A Brave New World
by FasiahTheHeavenChild
Summary: Wake up, smell the fresh air- oh, and watch out for the giant monster to your left before he eats your face! -A still immature teenager finds himself de-aged, stuck in a seemingly endless forest, with nothing but a big old book of spells to help him against all of the scary monsters. And that's BEFORE the blue, flying cat. What's Brian gotten himself into? SI/OC... sort of
1. Chapter 1

_(A/N): I think I should clarify before the story begins that this is a SI/OC fic, except that the character inserted is NOTHING like me. At all. Seriously. But they will have watched the Fairy Tail series and read the manga, so if you balk away from anything like that, you're free to leave now._

 _The whole premise of the story has more of a 'what am I going to do out there in this strange, new world?' than a 'I must surpass all of my enemies to protect my NAKAMA!' type of plot, not that there won't be plenty of that as well. Taking that into account, the OC in question does become rather OP right off the bat, as he eventually ends up being on par with some members of the Spriggan 12, but he won't end up being the strongest person in all of Earthland who can insta-oneshot-Gildarts-without-breaking-a-sweat-because-he-is-God, so don't worry about that._

 _So without further ado..._

Chapter One: A Startling Awakening; Forest of Monsters!

There should be a particular word for the precise discomfort which is brought on by lying down, completely naked, in a dense undergrowth, surrounded by dark, looming trees. It is most unpleasant. That alone would have been enough to fray my nerves.

But that wasn't all, no, no. In addition to that, I was now a little kid. I mean, elementary-school-aged little kid. This meant that not only was any kind of muscle I'd developed completely gone, but I would also have to go through puberty again. There was nothing remotely amusing about this situation.

There was a book, though, which was nice. I liked books. It was old and dusty, with yellowed pages and a faded cover. Perhaps it would be able to help me get out of this creepy forest. Well, those had been my original thoughts, but as it turned out, the book was useless, complete hogwash of the highest caliber.

 _Arcane Compendium_ , it was titled. Supposedly, it was 'the last remaining archive for the many Lost Magics that have been forgotten as the Era of the Gods came to an end.' Wonderful, I was a naked eight-year old in a creepy forest, but at least i could learn ancient voodoo chants!

Perhaps there was some kind of hint hidden inside the book, though. Maybe it was some kind of riddle, a puzzle that when I solved would provide me the knowledge of where the hell I was and what the fuck had happened to me. Why else would it be here with me?

 _Before learning of powerful Lost Magics, it is important first to master the art of lesser and more common magics. The easiest among them for a beginning practitioner to understand is Illusion Magic._

 _Illusion Magic is a caster-type magic (magic used without the help of a focus or other physical item) that grants the user the power to create phantasmal images which can be perceived by those around them._

 _The most basic spell,_ Illumination _, creates a ball of false light above the caster's hand. It can be cast by thrusting one's hands out and reciting the incantation "Lumen" while channeling one's magical energy with the intent of creating light. The gesture and incantation will become unnecessary as the spell becomes easier to cast._

 _For a beginning practitioner to access their magical energy, if they cannot already do so, it is necessary to engage in the following procedure. First—_

I snapped the book shut and let out a sigh. It seemed it was just as useless as I'd originally thought. What was I going to do, just pick a direction and walk? That didn't seem like it would be very productive, but then what else could I possibly do? I stopped and pondered for a few minutes, but nothing else came to me.

Figuring that if I kept walking, I'd reach the end eventually, and that if I stayed here and waited, I would most likely die of starvation or dehydration, I made my decision. I clutched the 'Arcane Compendium' in both hands (it was a rather large book, and I was a puny-muscled eight-year-old), if for no other reason than that it seemed at least a little bit valuable with its age, and made off towards the trees in front of me.

But then a low, menacing growl stopped me dead in my tracks. It was definitely not human, and certainly predatory. Slowly, ever so slowly, I twisted my body around until my eyes were greeted with a pair of blood red orbs that sent my panic senses into high alert. In shock, I dropped the book and it tumbled to the ground with an unimpressive thump.

In an instant, a giant canine head came lunging at me, snapping its maw. The creature had to be twice as large as a horse! Without thinking, I shoved my hands out in an instinctual but futile gesture of self-preservation. My mind was in overdrive, adrenaline was rushing through my veins like never before. I don't know why, but somehow, for some reason, it just slipped out, barely louder than a whisper.

"Lumen."

A rush of something other than adrenaline blasted through my body in a massive wave. A sudden flash of blinding intensity forced me to avert my gaze and shut my eyes. As the light abated, I heard a spooked yelp and caught sight of the colossal wolf-beast running with its tail between its legs, letting out whines and whimpers all the while.

I collapsed to me knees and steadied myself on my hands, my heart racing. For a while, I simply sat there, panting out breaths until the adrenaline left me. I stared at the tome sitting on the ground with a newfound awe and respect. Somehow, through some great miracle of fate, the spell had actually worked.

/

Within seven days of finding myself in this place, it finally became clear to me that I would likely not be escaping out to civilization for a long while. Hunger had been enough to convince me that everything was real. There's nothing quite like the constant and ever growing pang in your stomach to remind you of reality.

The Compendium was my only means of survival, the magic inside of it the only thing keeping me alive. After coming to recognize that I at least had mastered some basic aspects of Illusion Magic, I flipped through the pages until I found Water Magic. Within a few hours, thirst was no longer a problem, though I could just barely make enough to drink from.

The greatest problem was definitely food. With enough skill in Water Magic to assuage my parched throat, I needed sustenance. Unfortunately, I hadn't the faintest clue what plants might be edible and the only fauna I'd seen was the giant wolf monster.

Presumably, there would be other, less dangerous animals here as well. It was a forest, after all. But even so, I needed a way to hunt and cook. The Compendium had plenty of combat magics in it, but the ones I made an attempt to use all seemed as though they would require more practice than I could give before dying of starvation. That was not acceptable.

Eventually, as day turned to night and my hunger grew ever more persistent, I improvised. The first part was to create a trap. A large pit covered in twigs and leaves would be enough. After that, all I had to do was find my prey.

In the end, a day later, I came across some furry creature that looked big enough to last a day or two. From there, it was a simple matter to chase it with illusionary predators and herd it straight into the pitfall. One sharp stick later and it was skewered.

That first catch, I had eaten raw, and I guarantee it was the last time I would ever eat raw meat again. I became quite ill the next few days, and ended up regurgitating much of the creature. I learned basic Fire Magic before my next meal, so cooking did not become such a problem. The taste wasn't even so bad with it cooked.

With a method for gathering food and water, my survival was not in threat of immediate danger, but I still needed shelter. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find a magic that would help me there. So I stuck to my original plan of walking until I found myself a way out of the forest.

I had climbed up to the highest tree I could find and looked around, but spotted nothing other than more leafy canopies all around, as far as I could see. Even after seven days, when I did so once again, it was no different. The trees were simply endless. That was when I realized that it would most likely be a long, long journey out of here, wherever here was.

/

It was two days after that, when I learned that the wolf-beast was not the scariest predator here, not by a long shot. A strange, reptilian beast, easily as large as a house and covered in deep red scales, was something I found, plowing through trees as it marched on.

And that wasn't all. Now that I'd apparently gotten deeper into the forest, or perhaps I only just noticed now because I was less focused on myself and more on my surroundings, but the entire forest was _infested_ with monsters.

Those combat magics suddenly became much higher on my priority list. I most certainly did not wish to be caught unaware by a rampaging death monster without at least being able to shoot magic laser beams at it. So I threw myself into studying with fervor.

I learned how to wield Fire Magic as a weapon and how to turn water into a deadly sharp blade. I learned Wind Magic and Flight Magic, to give myself extra speed and agility. I focused on nothing but these magics for days on end, stopping only to give myself nourishment and hunt for food. Pit traps were no longer necessary.

I lost count of the days after seventeen, so focused as I was on surviving. I often imagined what it would be like to come out, back into civilization, with my new magic. Were there other wizards out there? Perhaps they lived in some kind of secret society like in _Harry Potter_?

But those ponderings never lasted very long before I returned to studying and practicing. It must have been a full month after all the madness had begun when I fought my first monster, so careful as I was to always avoid them.

It was a strange beast, as I recall, with hooves and goat-like legs, but with the upper body of a panther and a large, spiked tail. I threw waves of fire at it and tried to slice it with thin blades of water, all while bouncing around, propelled by Wind Magic. It landed a nasty blow to my side with a claw, but otherwise I won the battle in the end.

Not one to waste anything earned, now that I'd been put in this survival situation, I ended up cooking the entire beast and saving it for later. I wouldn't have to hunt for a month if the meat was still good at the end of it. Most likely, though, it would begin to rot before that.

After I felt I was proficient enough in the magic I knew to defend myself adequately, I moved on to the next two magics. The first was called Pressure Magic, aptly named for the ability to exert an invisible force, pushing everything around the caster downwards. The second was called Voice Enchant Magic, a form of Sound Magic which allowed the caster to alter and amplify their own voice. Hopefully, with the two combined, I would be able to scare off anything too strong for me to take, like I had with the wolf-beast on my first day here.

/

Every day, I continued to move forward through the trees, boosted with Wind and Flight Magic, whenever I needed a break from learning new magic. But after more time than I could remember, month after month, I was beginning to despair. There was still no end in sight.

I had learned so many magics, it was almost hard to keep track of them all– Illusion, Water, Fire, Wind, Flight, Pressure, Voice Enchant, Steel Make, Wood Make, Transformation, the list just went on and on. Of course, it would not be correct to say that I had mastered them all, but I could at least use them to some degree, and a few I held particular talent in, such as with Voice Enchant Magic.

But after all this, I felt I was ready to move onto something more, something I had attempted to learn numerous times and failed completely at every single attempt. I was going to learn what the Compendium called a 'Lost Magic'.

But the book listed so many of them. Quite a few would be impossible, such as the Dragon Slayer Magic, which apparently could only be taught by a real dragon, unless some alternative method had been created since the year X436, though it sounded very impressive.

I eventually decided on Invocation Magic, which would supposedly use great and powerful spells from higher powers. Unfortunately, every spell (and there were quite a few of them listed) had a paragraph-long incantation with specific gestures that were necessary in order to cast. Nonetheless, the effects described sounded rather interesting.

Unlike with most of the magics I'd learned, Invocation Magic was not something I could get down in a few days. It took two weeks, actually, to get so much as a spark from it. Fortunately, it came just before I had been about to give up on it. Even so, progress was like watching the flow of a molasses river.

After a month of practice, I could get a few spells to work at a level that was on par with my other magic, but it was still nothing special. _Magnum Solaris_ was supposed to cause a massive conflagration, but so far only made a moderately sized fireball. It was slowly getting more powerful however, and I believed that in a few months it would be up to its description.

"Breather of life, Reaper of life, he who shineth at morning's come," I began again. "burn forth from the heavens in eternal glory. Oh, _Horologia Solaria_ , I am the keeper of flames. Phoenix of heaven, Salamander of earth, Forge of man! Divine conflagration, ashes of the four winds, blaze evermore unto the Twilight. Forever shall the fire churn. Crash forth, _Magnum Solaris!"_

A rush of golden-yellow flames left my hands in a blazing torrent. It was easily as strong as the best I could make with ordinary Fire Magic, and it would only grow further with time. I let a grin cross over my face. Somehow, someway, I was finding my way out of these woods and into civilization, even if I had to learn every Lost Magic in existence to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Terror of the Village; Scarlet to the Rescue!

Something wasn't right about this forest, I mean, _besides_ the infestation of monsters. I'd finally created a shelter with Wood Make Magic, and when I left to continue in search of the end of the forest, I came across it again, even though I'd been traveling in the same direction away from it.

The only explanation I could think of was that something was distorting my senses to make me run in circles without realizing it. That would explain why the forest seemed so endless, because I'd never made any real progress through it. Either that, or the forest was magical enough to literally bend time and space to prevent me from getting out, in which case I was screwed.

But assuming that the first theory was correct, there had to be some way to negate the effects. Perhaps Severance Magic would be able to cut through the distortion of my senses, or maybe if I set up a Domain with Alkashi Runes, it would block out the effect...

I propelled myself above the canopies with Wind Magic and held myself there with Flight Magic, looking out over the endless trees. First things first, before I set up complicated runic arrays that would take weeks to complete, some tests were in order.

"Dispel." I murmured, flaring my magic in a small burst. The effect was immediate as everything around me warped and rippled outwards. I clutched my head and shut my eyes at the nauseating sensation of the world twisting around me.

When I reopened my eyes, everything around me felt clearer, as though I'd put on glasses for the first time. To my left, I could see the trees begin to thin out into grasslands. I didn't have a mirror, but I'm sure my eyes were wide enough to pass as their own moons.

A year and a half stuck in this thrice-be-damned forest, and the key to getting out was casting Dispel on myself? The most basic of the basic? I'd spent months toiling over complex Lost Magics when the answer was _that_ simple?! A scream of some emotion between frustration, relief, and unbridled fury tore out of my throat.

"Fucking trees!"

/

Three minutes of high speed flight saw me out of the accursed woodlands, never to return. Like hell I was ever going back in there! Hopefully I would come across someone to help me get back home. Goodness, I hadn't spoken to another human being in over a year and a half! This was going to be awkward.

I didn't take me long to find a human settlement, though it was not terribly impressive. It was just a tiny, ramshackle village, with maybe twenty odd houses made of thin wooden beams and thatch. I lowered myself to the ground from a safe distance away. I wasn't sure how the people would react if I simply flew in.

I was surely not in America, as I couldn't think where I would be able to find such a quaint little secluded village like this anywhere in the country. Perhaps I was somewhere in Africa? But it didn't feel particularly hot... Maybe the locals could help me, if they even spoke English.

It took me a few minutes to walk all the way to the village at a reasonable (read: humanly possible) pace from a distance where they wouldn't see me land. When I finally did come close enough for a more detailed look at the place, there were a few things that set me on edge.

For one, the place was more than just rundown; it looked as though the entire village had been hit by a tornado and they'd only just started rebuilding. The people themselves also seemed to have an air of skittishness about them, even from a distance. It only became clearer as I drew closer. Something had happened to wreck the place, and whatever it was, it had spooked the villagers more than just a bit.

Eventually, one of the people spotted me, a child, by the looks of it. It didn't take long until the entire village was pointing at me and most likely chatting to each other about why a random little kid was wandering around by their village. Going by their pale skin, it seemed I wasn't in Africa.

When I came close enough to make out their faces, a man in a ragged cloak with a white beard reaching down to his chest beckoned me towards him with a staff of thick, knotted wood. The village elder, perhaps? I came to a stop a couple feet in front of him.

"Hello, Sir," I said respectfully, staring at my toes and shifting uncomfortably. "could you please tell me where I am?"

"This is the Village of Alnerwick, Child, on the east side of the Fiore Kingdom." he answered, to which I stared blankly at him. "How did you come to find yourself in such a secluded place as this? It must have been terribly difficult to come here with the nearest town fifty miles away. Here, come join me in my tent."

With that, the bald old man turned around and started towards a small hut-like structure with animal skin for walls and a little opening for a door. Cocking my head to the side in curiosity, I followed after him. Why was the village stating at me so strangely? Even if I was a stranger, surely they'd had other visitors before?

The inside of the old man's 'tent' was cozy, with a fur carpet draped over the ground. A few tall, wooden poles stood in the center, supporting the entire building. I plopped into a seat on the soft fur.

"I'm afraid I have very little to offer you, child." he continued. "Alnerwick is facing difficult times right now. At the very least, I can give you a bit of food and water, and something to wear as well."

I looked down at my naked body. Ah, clothes, that was right. I hadn't worn anything in so long, it just felt natural. He provided me some ragged pants and a shirt, before he placed a bowl of stew in front of me.

"Thank you for the clothes, Sir." I said quietly. "But I don't need food or water. I just wanted to know where I am."

"Please, enough with the 'Sir', you can call me Albrecht." he replied. "And what is your name, child?"

"I am Brian." I answered.

"Well, Brian," Albrecht inhaled deeply and let out his breath slowly before he continued. "can you tell me where your home is?"

"Yes, I live in Amherst, New York, America." I replied shortly.

"What a peculiar name for a place." he remarked. "I can't say that I've ever heard of it."

"You said that we're in eastern Fiore?" I said, to which he nodded. "Can you tell me where Fiore is?"

"You don't know where Fiore is?" said Albrecht, his eyes widening. "It's the country you're in right now, a part of the continent of Ishgar."

"Hmm, I see." I lied. A new continent? Was I even on the same planet? My eyebrows flew into my hairline as I realized that it wasn't impossible. After all, I'd just woken up here with no clothes, a younger body, and a magic book.

"Well, wherever you come from, I think the only thing which could transport someone across a country would be powerful magic. Have you come across any mages recently?" asked Albrecht.

I shook my head 'no.' Apparently, magic was something common enough to speak casually about in 'Ishgar', wherever that was. Perhaps wizards weren't so uncommon here. That put a definite damper on my idea of being the most powerful wizard of all time. I was still just a neophyte, after all.

"Hmm, well regardless of that, I'm afraid you can't stay here. It isn't safe. Recently, a huge beast has been terrorizing the village, and it even killed two of us in its last attack." said Albrecht. "We've sent out a mission request for an S-class wizard to come and slay it, as no mage has yet managed to best it. You must flee as soon as you can!"

My eyes widened at the mention of an S-class wizard. According to the Compendium, S-class was the highest rank a wizard could receive, after years and years of arduous training, and with a certain level of innate talent as well. Becoming S-class meant that a mage had begun to reach their full potential. If there was a monster terrible enough to require someone like that to have to come and take care of it, then there was no way I'd even be able to scratch it!

/

Five minutes later, I was wearing the clothes Albrecht had given me and sprinting as quickly as I could, boosted with Wind Magic. I came across one of the monsters that inhabited the forest I'd grown so used to. Apparently, it'd also managed to find a way out.

I didn't have time to spare on small fry like this with a terrible monster on the loose! Though it was absolutely enormous, there was nothing particularly dangerous about it except for its talons and teeth. A combination of Pressure Magic to exert a force on the beast and Voice Enchant Magic to scream impossibly loudly at it caused the creature to flee as quickly as it could. I didn't even have to slow my pace for it.

I kept a close eye behind me and to my sides for the monster Albrecht had warned me about. Thankfully, I hadn't spotted anything yet. I was so focused on these areas, however, that I failed to pay adequate attention to my front.

As such, it was quite a surprise when I crashed head-first into something solid and harder than my head. I bounced backward a good foot in recoil and jumped up to my feet. Was this the monster?! I crouched down and prepared to leap backward a few dozen feet, but stopped dead in my tracks.

It wasn't a monster. _She_ was a person. Long red hair cascaded behind her head as sharp brown eyes stared curiously back at me. She was clad in an iron breastplate and armored gloves that extended up to her elbow. Her lower half was unprotected, with only a blue skirt and long, black boots. I admit I was a bit stricken by her beauty. My only excuse was that I hadn't seen anyone at all in over a year, and she could've easily passed for a model.

"A-ah, I'm so sorry, Ma'am!" I exclaimed, regaining my bearings. "I should've looked where I was going."

"That's alright." she replied, a bit stiffly, though she didn't sound offended. "It's only natural for people to make mistakes."

"Thank you, Miss." I said. "Oh, wait a minute, you're in danger too, Miss. The old man at the village told me a horrible monster was around here! And the entire village was wrecked too, so he wasn't joking around either! We have to get out of here!"

"A horrible monster attacked a village, you say?" she asked. "It seems I'm in the right place, then."

"Huh?" I blinked a few times in rapid succession.

"Alnerwick village contacted the guild that there was a powerful monster on the loose here." she explained. "I was the only S-class mage there at the time, so I decided to come."

"Y-you're... an S-class mage?" I repeated in awe.

"Indeed." she answered. "My name is Erza Scarlet. What is yours?"

"Brian." I replied. "Just Brian."

"Well then, Brian, it's not safe for children like you to be wandering around with an S-class monster nearby, even if you're trying to get away from it." said Erza. "You can accompany me until I've slain it."

"Really, you'd do that?" I asked excitedly. This could be my only chance to observe a real S-class mage in battle!

"Of course." said Erza. "It would be irresponsible of me to leave you here in danger, after all."

"Thank you so much!" I said, practically clinging to her waist. It would probably have been more awkward had I looked my actual age, but as it were she just chuckled and ruffled my hair.

The trek back to the village took over an hour, as we were walking and not sprinting at half the speed of sound. But when we finally did end up back there, I allowed Erza to talk with Albrecht about the monster, imagining all the different types of magic she must have mastered. At least, I didn't pay attention until the old man started to describe the beast.

"It was gigantic– fifty times larger than a horse!" he recalled. "Its four legs were talons like an eagle's, but its body is like a bear, covered in fur and bulging muscles. Its head is like a dragon, with sharp eyes and sharper teeth, and its tail is large enough to crush a house!"

"Very well," said Erza. "I will be on the look out for talon-shaped footprints and other signs of the monster."

Talons, furry body, reptilian head, giant tail— that was the same monster I'd dismissed as small fry! I'd already killed dozens of them in the forest, they weren't even among the top ten strongest monsters there! Had the village really called in an S-class wizard for something like that? I couldn't help but slap my forehead at the sheer overkill of that.

"Is something the matter, Brian?" asked Erza, leveling me with a searching gaze. I almost took a step back from the intensity of it.

"No, everything is fine, Miss Scarlet." I said, to which she gave a curt nod.

"In that case, I will begin my hunt for it now." said Erza. "Albrecht-san, please watch over young Brian here while I'm away. It's dangerous for a young child to be on his own with such a dangerous monster lurking around."

"Oh, y-yes, of course." stammered Albrecht, most likely thinking of how he himself had been the one to send me fleeing on my own. In my panicked haze, I hadn't realized how dangerous it could've been for me if the monster had actually been S-class.

/

I spent a few hours huddled with three other children in another small hut. One of the adults was trying to entertain us with games and stories. He was admittedly quite the storyteller, and the other three children were held in rapture of his tales, but the same could not be said of myself. With a mental age of fifteen, I found little interest in the cookie-cutter fairy tales made to entertain simpleminded children.

Of course, I looked just as simpleminded as any of the other children, what with my tiny body, ragged hair, and shy demeanor. It was all an act, though, as it would raise questions for someone who for all intents and purposes still looked like an eight-year-old to act as though he was fifteen. The fact that I was pretending to be an eight-year-old out of my own free will did not help me out of my boredom in the slightest.

"... And then the prince took back their firstborn and the prince and princess lived happily ever after. The End." finished the storyteller, shooting us all a bright smile. "Now, does anyone have any questions about the story?"

An idea flashed into my head as I hid a devious smirk and raised my hand, my face the picture of innocent youth. Luckily, none of the other children had any questions, so I was called on immediately.

"How did the prince and the princess make a baby together?" I asked, tilting my head to the left.

The blush that flared across the storyteller's face as he tried to splutter out an answer was enough to make me stifle a round of giggles that threatened to come splurging out.

"W-well, um, w-when the prince and the princess got married, they had a special ceremony where they make a baby by taking a little bit of the daddy and putting it in the mommy's belly." he explained, sweat gathering on his forehead.

 _Nice save_ , I thought, _commendable even,_ _but I haven't finished with you yet_.

"Ohhhhh," I said, as if coming to a great realization. "So that's what Mommy and Daddy were doing when he put his private part in her mouth and told her to swallow everything. I was gonna ask them, but I didn't want them to find me hiding under their bed."

The expression on his face was priceless, a mix of horror and awkwardness that he just couldn't seem to recover from.

"Eewwww!" the other kids whined in unison. "That's gross!"

"Eh, you never know." I said, shrugging. "Daddy looked really, really happy when he was doing it."

"A-anyways!" interrupted the storyteller, three octaves above his usual voice. "The next story is called 'The Castle of the Cloud.'"

He was interrupted by another villager poking her head through the entry-hole. I could tell immediately that something exciting had happened by her visage.

"The S-class wizard just slew the monster and came back with its body!" she exclaimed. "We're saved!"

Immediately, the children all rushed out of the hut, grinning widely and hobbling on their tiny legs. I followed after them, wondering if perhaps I'd been mistaken and there really was a different monster out there.

But I was disappointed. Erza Scarlet stood beside the beaten and bloody carcass of the very same monster I'd scared off in my haste to leave several hours ago. What surprised me, however, was that she also looked a bit roughed up as well. It was nowhere near as much as her foe, but even still... Was this really an S-class mage?

"So much for 'pinnacle of magic power,' huh." I muttered. "Geez, I need to get to a city or something, find out more information about this 'Ishgar' place."

I was drawn out of my musings as the village elder, Albrecht, came forward with tears in his eyes. Personally, I couldn't think of a monster like that as such a big deal (having killed quite a few of them myself), but then I suppose it _had_ wrecked he village, so it made sense for them to be emotional about it.

"Thank you so much, Erza-sama." he cried, then reached into his cloak and brought out something small and shiny. "As promised, we give you this treasured artifact which the village of Alnerwick has kept hidden for centuries."

"It was no problem, Albrecht-san." said Erza, accepting the artifact. "I must be returning to my guild, though, so I will take my leave. I bid you well."

"And you as well, good mage." replied Albrecht, lowering his head.

Realizing that this could be my ticket into civilization, I rushed forward until I was right next to Erza. I tugged lightly on her skirt and she looked down at me with mild curiosity.

"Um, Miss Erza," I said. "do you think I could come with you?"

"Come with me?" she echoed. "But aren't you a part of this village? Why would you wish to leave."

"I, uhh, I'm actually not." I replied. "I just stumbled across them and they gave me some clothes."

"Is this true?" said Erza, looking pointedly at Albrecht. At his nod, she turned back to me. "Where are you from, then, Brian? Where are your parents?"

"My home... is far, far away, farther than you can imagine." I said, trailing off. "I don't have any parents, though, so there's no need to worry about that."

"No parents... Perhaps it _would_ be best to take you with me..." said Erza, humming noncommittally. "Very well, you may accompany me back to Magnolia Town. I will let the master decide what to do with you."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Erza!" I said, smiling brightly. "But before we go, I just wanted to ask you, are you really an S-class mage?"

"Yes, I am." she answered easily. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing," I said hurriedly, waving my hands out vigorously in a placating gesture. "I just don't realize why an S-class wizard was called in to deal with such a weak monster."

There were a few seconds of dead silence. Had I said something wrong?

"I mean, I even came across it while I was running away and I never even considered that it was the monster attacking the village, so I just scared it off and kept on going, and—" I rambled nervously.

"You scared it off?" said Erza, raising a dubious eyebrow. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, that?" I said. "It's not too hard. Once you know what something is afraid of, you can just imitate it and emphasize the scarier parts with magic. The Pressure Magic helps a lot too, I guess."

"Oh? Would you care to give us all a demonstration?" she asked, her lips curling up ever so slightly. She didn't believe me!

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. How would I go about doing this? Illusion Magic on the eyes and the shadows, then Voice Enchant and Pressure Magic to add to the intimidation factor... Yes, that would work.

I let out a dark chuckle. A subtle Voice Enchant made it sound far deeper than anything my tiny voice box could produce naturally, deeper and louder and raspier. It was perfect. Then came the Pressure Magic, exerting a powerful force on everything around me, pushing it all to the ground. Erza didn't seem very affected, but the villagers were all on their hands and knees.

Next was the Illusion Magic. When I opened my eyes, they were a solid black, completely empty. My shadow appeared to twist and warp into something huge and monstrous. I grinned savagely.

" **I am the demon Ashmedai, King of the Nine Hells!** " I roared. " **You tiny creatures that dwell in the light, clinging to your feeble suns, which die, in the end; ONLY THE DARKNESS REMAINS! My legions will march across the lands. Your cities and kingdoms will drown beneath crashing waves. The fires will rage until there is only ashes. No flesh shall be spared!** "

I slowly let go of the magics and the extreme sense of grandeur that came with the performance. The pressure vanished and my eyes and shadow returned to their normal state. I grinned cheekily at Erza's wide eyes.

"So it went something like that, yeah." I concluded.

"Hellspawn!" cried one of the villagers, pointing an accusatory finger at me.

"Demon!"

"Unholy creature!"

"Drive it off! Drive it off!"

/

Panting heavily, I begged Erza to stop in between gasps of breath. We'd had to flee quickly to evade the angry village mob. Had my performance really been so convincing? Surely they knew that I was just acting! Well, I had threatened them with the apocalypse...

"I... need... to catch my breath...!" I spoke between pants.

"Hmm, I suppose a short rest would do us some good." said Erza.

"...So, where exactly are we heading?" I asked, after recovering for a minute. "You mentioned a Magnolia Town...?"

"Yes, that's where my guild is." she said. "The mage's guild, Fairy Tail." She lifted up her left arm, displaying a blue insignia below the shoulder. A familiar insignia.

 _Mage's guild._

 _S-class mage._

 _Erza Scarlet._

"Oh," I said.

 _Fairy... Tail..._

I couldn't quite bring myself to say anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Peril of the Railway; The Death-Eater Rejects!

I can't say I had spent a terrible amount of time musing over old entertainment mediums over the past year and a half. Most of my time had been spent thinking about survival, and later, about learning new magics. But that did not make my memory any more diminished.

It was all starting to make sense now. Lost Magics, Mage Guilds, S-class Wizards— they all fit into this world. It spun a new perspective on my situation for me as well, gave me a better understanding of the world at large.

I would've gone into shock at the sheer absurdity of the idea, that fiction was my reality now. Perhaps I _was_ in shock, but after undergoing the life-and-death, gritty survival in the forest of monsters, I think the world simply was no longer able to shock me to such a degree anymore.

Whether I was in shock or not, my head was still screwed on straight, which was really rather helpful. With a nice, working brain, I could plan ahead for the future. Namely, I could figure out what to do with myself now that I'd reentered society (albeit a new one).

From what I understood about the mages of Earthland, they only specialized in one type of magic. Erza's, for example, was Requip: The Knight. Natsu had Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and Lucy had Celestial Spirit Magic.

But not me, I couldn't say I had any kind of specialization at all. I was decent with elemental magics, enough to litter the ground with small craters in some of my fights against the stronger monsters. I had a few, less combat-oriented magics, such as Flight and Transformation, which I'd mastered to an acceptable degree. But I had nothing I could truly consider my 'primary magic,' or anything of the like.

I could be very creative with Alkashi Runes, not to mention that there was Severance Magic and Invocation Magic as well. But none of those seemed to fit with me any more than other magics. So what kind of mage was I? Presumably, there was a reason mages only limited themselves to one type of magic, so why was it that I could use so many? The Compendium had never mentioned anything about it.

"Say, Miss Erza, what would you say your guild is like?" I said. There was little else to do on the train to Magnolia, and it wasn't as though _she_ was about to start a conversation, what with her undeniable social awkwardness.

"What is it like?" she echoed. "Fairy Tail is... a family, somewhere people can gather together and know that they are home. It is... freeing. Does that answer your question?"

I slowly nodded.

"Yes," I said. "it sounds like a wonderful place. I don't think I've ever heard a mage's guild described like that before. Of course, I can't say I'm really an expert about the outside world here."

"The world? What do you mean?" said Erza.

"Well, I've never really left the forest where I... grew up in, until just yesterday." I explained. "It was a magical forest, you see, so I had to search for a way out, or else the magic would cause me to just walk in circles without realizing it."

"Hmm, that's very interesting." she replied. "I don't suppose there were other people in this forest with you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "it was only me."

"Surely there had to be someone else." said Erza. "Someone obviously taught you how to speak and other such things. You said someone described a mage's guild to you before."

I froze as I realized the huge, gaping hole in my story. Shit! How could I cover this one up?

"Um, well, there was, uh—"

I was saved from explaining by a large tremor that shook the train, too large to be natural. I caught sight of Erza's neutral expression morphing into a slight frown. Clearly, something wrong was afoot. I opened my mouth again, but the train shook once more before I could utter another word, this time much more violently.

I grasped tightly to the armrest of my seat as I felt our compartment tipping over to the side. Had we crashed? But that didn't make much sense. What could we possibly have crashed into while stuck on a railroad?

"Attention all passengers!" sounded a voice from a speaker on the ceiling. It was not the same voice that had welcomed us all aboard. "All of you are now prisoners of the dark guild, Reaper Thorn! Resistance is futile! All who do not comply will be annihilated!"

"A Dark Guild?" muttered Erza. "They must be intent on using the passengers for some illegal purpose."

"That does seem most probable." I agreed. "So, plan on doing anything about it?"

"Of course, I will put a stop to this plot!" she declared imperiously.

"Eh, you can just sit back and relax." I said, waving a dismissive hand at her. "If they're taking over a train and saying things as cliché as 'resistance is futile,' then they can't be _that_ strong. Besides, I haven't had a good fight in a while."

Just as Erza opened her mouth to protest, as I could tell from her facial expression exactly what she was thinking, I bolted out the door above me (the entire train had been thrown on its side) and ran down the hall, Wind Magic boosting my speed.

The thing about running through a train while it's tipped over sideways is that you can't really stand upright without hitting your head against the wall-turned-ceiling. Fortunately, I was still in the body of a young child, so I didn't have to duck too low. Even so, it was a disadvantage I needed to get rid of.

 _Well_ , I thought, _one easy way out!_

"Steel Make: Cannon Ball!"

Needless to say, there was a rather sizable hole for me to jump through, thus relieving me of the narrow train aisle. One quick wind-boosted jump later and I was on top of the train, looking for signs of an enemy. Several figures in long, dark cloaks were gathered at the head of the train. Jackpot!

I charged up a Flight spell in my legs and leapt into the sky. Fifteen feet above the ground, I flew straight towards the clearly nefarious group. Honestly, were those cloaks supposed to inspire fear or something? They just looked like a bunch of Hogwarts rejects.

"Wood Make: Alder Sword!" I yelled, basking in the sense of drama that came with announcing my attack.

An extravagant great sword, longer than I was tall, formed in my hands, made entirely out of wood. It wasn't the strongest material to make a weapon out of, certainly not with Steel Make Magic in my arsenal, but wood had a certain other useful property. It could conduct magical energy more easily than copper could conduct electricity.

Additionally, it was easier for me to add in extra designs and decorative carvings into a Wood Make object than a Steel Make object. With the two traits combined, I could create a wooden object with runes carved into them. Specifically, Alkashi Runes, a form of highly volatile Letter Magic considered to be a Lost Magic as few had dared to practice it in centuries. What with all of the... explosive screw-ups I'd made, it wasn't hard to see why.

The runes were nothing too complicated, just a basic array causing an increase in strength, durability, and endurance of the wood... and maybe a light coating of supercharged, heavily concentrated magical energy as well. Really, it was nothing special compared to the _other_ things Alkashi Runes could do (I once again reminded myself not to rip a hole in the fabric of space and time for kicks).

So, wielding my regrettably heavy, magically enhanced wooden blade, I crashed into the ground, slashing downwards. As it were, I hadn't actually hit anyone, though. It certainly seemed to grab their attention, however, that was for certain.

"What the hell?"

"Who is this brat?"

"Creepy little bastard!"

I snorted at the last one. The guy wearing an Evil Black Cloak of Doom™ had the gall to say that _I_ was the creepy one here? Sure, I had just dive bombed them out of nowhere with a wood sword magically enhanced enough to cut through stone like a hot knife through butter, but that was only because they had hijacked the train I was on! Therefore, everything was entirely their fault!

"Take this, you stupid brat! Thunder Buster!"

A bolt of lightning came racing towards me, but I simply knocked it aside with my Alder Sword. Was that all? Even _I_ could make more powerful lightning than that, and it wasn't even my specialty. Dear God, these people were idiots.

"What? Impossible!" shouted one of the villains, sounding as though he was genuinely shocked.

"What, you're actually surprised that I managed to stop that weak-as-hell, sorry excuse for a spell of yours?" I mocked, shaking my head in disappointment. "Let's be honest here, bud– I can't have been the first."

"Frost Eater!"

"Stone Make: Spikes!"

"Demon Wind Blade!"

"Shadow Bullet Storm!"

"Laser Strike!"

A quick jump a few feet in the air saw all of the spells crashing to gather in a chaotic heap of magic. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in an explosion. Most of the ridiculously generic villains had been blown backwards, whereas I was thrown a few extra feet upwards. I landed on my toes.

With a swing of my wooden blade, a bright burst of magic was flung out the end in a rush of compressed force. Three of my enemies (if they could even be considered enough of a threat to be called as such) were down for the count, but four more remained and had gotten back onto their feet.

I gathered a ball of water in my hands, drawing out the moisture in the air and producing even more of it from pure magic. As the sphere grew larger than a beach ball, I stopped and compressed it further and further until it was like some kind of murky blue marble.

In the time it took to make the hyper-dense aquatic marble, I had dodged three lightning bolts, two laser beams, five tiny balls of some dark substance, and one ten foot long pike made from ice. Their aim was nothing to admire.

To be truthful, I had been hoping for a decent fight against some experienced dark mages. Instead, I got _Harry Fodder and the Death Eater Rejects_. My disappointment was fathomless.

"Grand Ocean Compression Bullet." I muttered the incantation, sorely unimpressed. The tight ball of super condensed liquid sliced through the air and impacted the lightning user. I didn't wince at the shower of gore. He'd be needing a new arm and a leg soon... no, really, he would. If he survived the profuse bleeding, that was.

Blowing up enormous monsters with highly volatile spells on a semi-weekly basis for a year and a half ruins one's discomfort about gore. It had been holding me back from survival, so I had dropped it, simple as that.

I leapt quickly to my left as an enormous ball of dark red, liquid _something_ crashed into the ground where I'd been standing, quickly dissolving the earth in a cloud of steam and forming a crater. The inky, red substance then re-formed into a ball and flew upwards towards a new enemy.

He was wearing a long, dark cloak as well, though it was covered in frivolous, red designs. A blank, silver mask hid his features completely, reflecting sunlight like a mirror. A small katana (or was it a wakizashi?) was sheathed across his back. I had to admit, the outfit was definitely a level of badass higher than the other morons I was fighting.

"So it seems you've managed to best three of my Seven Death Gods." said the man, the sound distorted with a familiar application of Voice Enchant. "And I suppose it would not take long for you to destroy those remaining. Such a little thing, but with so much power. You intrigue me, Little One."

"Master Azrael!" The four tools cried out in unison, prostrating in the dogeza* position, heads touching the ground.

And then any grudging sense of respect I may have had for this man's sense of style instantly vanished. He'd called me 'Little One'! I bet he wouldn't be too happy to wake up looking half his age either! Or, perhaps he was older, so then maybe he would... But that wasn't the point!

"...You have an interesting magic." I said finally. Was it some kind of acid-based magic?

"Ramsel, Sylva, Pritchard, Laydon, leave this one to me and proceed as planned." ordered 'Asrael.' All four left speedily, barely pausing to say 'Yes, Master!'

"So I guess you're the guild master of— What was it called again? —Ah, yes, Reaper Thorn." I recalled. "I don't suppose we can try to start killing each other now?"

"Killing each other?" he echoed, chuckling lightly. "Why would there ever be a need for such a thing? I promise, I don't bear you any ill will so long as you don't bear me any. Wouldn't it be so much better if we could work together? I'm sure you have something that you want. A goal, perhaps?"

"Are..." I paused, shaking my head incredulously. "Are you trying to _recruit_ me?"

"Is that really so bad? The strong can only truly reach their dreams if they work together, you know. We could do amazing things, you and I." he said.

"I'll be sure to take it under advisement." I said in deadpan. "In the meantime, I haven't had a decent fight since that weird flying hydra thing five months back, so can we please get onto the trying to kill each other part yet?"

"Well if you're so eager to try your hand..." he trailed off. The globe of red liquid spurted out in jets with surprising accuracy, staining the ground. I dodged each of them, grinning.

"Wood Make: Thorn Wall!" I exclaimed, the thrill of battle exhilarating me. Thick tendrils of spiked wood rose up from the ground as though some kind of earth-kraken was throwing a fit. It was offense and defense all wrapped into one package (of hentai).

Azrael waved his arms about in some purposeful gesture, calling back all of his liquid and drenching my wood with it. A raucous laugh escaped his mouth as the thorn wall stopped moving about and attempting to crush, impale, or wring him. I frowned a bit.

"Hah! It seems you have underestimated my magic." he declared. "With my Blood Forge Magic, I am capable of using the blood of my victims for a multitude of purposes, such as dissolving common minerals or possessing organic materials. For a Wood Make mage, I am insurmountable!"

"Hmm, well thank you for that riveting explanation which I will now use to my benefit." I said blandly. "I suppose I could probably beat you by using too much wood for you to possess all of it, but working to your advantage would be foolish of me."

I released a spurt of my hottest Fire Magic at the wooden tentacle coming to smash me. It was reduced to a pile of ashes. Wood and fire do not mesh well together, it seemed. Oh well, sucked to be him.

"There would be no other way for me to combat this, were I limited to Wood Make magic, but it appears to me that _you_ are the one to have underestimated _me_."

"What?!" he spluttered. "Two magics?! That's impossible! You're just a little kid!"

"Holy light, holy might, royal clouds on purest wings." I began, burning tendrils of wood as I went along with the Invocation. "With such splendor, show me thine ire! Oh shining gates of blazing gold, I am the the slayer of nights. Rise up in defiance, Banisher of Shadows. Seek before me thine enemy eternal and strike him down in fury! _Ablution!_ "

A blinding radiance seemed to blast down from the sky in a blast of pure white light, forming a great hole in the clouds above. I'd rarely ever gotten the chance to use the Cleansing of Darkness before. Supposedly, it would temporarily negate all forms of magic tied to The Black Arts. Magic used to control your previous victim's blood and use it to possess living material seemed to fit the bill, I thought.

As expected, when the light abated, Azrael was left a blubbering mess, kneeling on the ground and shaking. The red liquid, which I now knew was blood, sank into the earth around him. He was completely powerless.

"Steel Make: Saber." I said casually. He didn't even look up as the silver tip of the blade rested against his throat.

Just as I was deliberating whether or not to simply lop his head off and be done with it, I heard a resounding crash coming from behind me. Twisting my head around, I caught sight of Erza Scarlet rising up from the train, or whatever was left of it, in all her armored glory.

Her armor was different, a dress seemingly made entirely out of sword blades, with two large wings poking if he back. If I remembered correctly, that was the Heavens Wheel Armor. It was a sight to behold, now that it was in person and very, very real. I felt the strangest urge to clap in appreciation.

" _Hello, Erza!_ " I called, amplifying the volume tenfold with a Voice Enchant. " _I have the guild master here!_ "

"Brian!" she hollered, and began to fly towards me at an impressive speed.

Well, here it was, she was probably going to chew me out for going after the big bad guy. It's what I would've done if I'd seen some crazy eight-year-old come charging at a powerful enemy. Well, powerful enough to destroy an eight-year-old at any rate.

"What on earth happened here?" she demanded once she landed down beside me, still in her Heavens Wheel Armor and ready to face any threat. "I saw a great light coming from over here as I finished dealing with the dark mages."

"Oh, I was just fighting this idiot here." I said, gesturing to my fallen opponent, who was still staring blankly into space through his silver mask. "He wasn't too strong, but then he was possessing my Wood Make creations with a creepy and probably illegal blood-based magic. So then I used an Invocation to seal away his magic for a while. He won't be casting any spells for the next few days."

"Invocation? Seal away his magic? Hmm..." I could see the gears turning in her head as she muttered to herself. "Very well, I will accept that answer as the truth. However, I ask that you at least provide an explanation about this once we reach the guild."

"Alright, I can do that." I answered easily, resting my hands behind my head.

"There is one other thing as well." said Erza, glancing over me with a bit of awkward displeasure and— was that some embarrassment? "Why is it that you are currently... undressed?"

"Hmm?" I said, looking down at myself. A few singed scraps of cloth were hanging loosely around my shoulders and piled around my feet. Otherwise, I was fully naked. "Oh, I suppose that _would_ happen from using Fire Magic so much with these clothes on. Sorry about that."

/

"Is this _really_ necessary?" I said, tugging uncomfortably on the light cloth around my legs.

"You cannot simply walk around unclothed." said Erza. "It would be undignified and inappropriate."

"Yes, I understand that." I conceded. "But why did it have to be _this_?" I gestured to the frilly, white dress I was wearing. It wasn't too ornamented, but it was nonetheless a _dress_. And I was a _boy_. Are you beginning to notice a problem here?

"It have already told you before." said Erza. "I have no clothes in my requip space that could fit you except for those that I wore when I was your age."

"Shut the hell up! Don't think I didn't see your eyes sparkling at me like I was some kind of puppy or something!" I said. "I am not a dress-up doll!"

"Perhaps we may acquire you some new clothes for you once we get you to the guild hall." said Erza. "Until then, however, there is nothing to be done."

"I will have my revenge." I muttered under my breath. "Just you wait."

But that was just to distract me from the prospect of 'once we get to the guild hall' that she'd mentioned. It wasn't something I wanted to think about. I was going to end up at Fairy Tail, in front of people whose fates I knew. What the hell was I going to do then?

No answer came to the question festering in the back of my mind. Just empty silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Brawl of the Ages; Arrival at Fairy Tail!

It took over half an hour for officers of the Magic Council to arrive. A legion of Rune Knights came to apprehend the dark mages and drove off in old fashioned cars with prison carriages attached at the back.

It took even longer for them to send help to the passengers and get them to the nearest train station with a message of apology for the disruption and a promise from the conductor that they would receive free tickets to any location that could be reached by train.

Eventually, we were all loaded up in a strange transportation mechanism that seemed to hover over a large, blue magic circle. It was like a space ship straight out of _Star Wars_. The nearest station was in a place called Clover Town. From then, it took several more hours to make it to Magnolia Station.

All in all, when we finally arrived, the sun had already begun to set on the horizon. Hour after hour I had waited in trains and magical flying vehicles, preparing myself for what was to come. And I was still wearing a goddamn _dress_!

"Come along, Brian, we're almost there now." said Erza, dragging me along by my arm. At least she wasn't calling me 'Brianna,' though I swear I heard her mumble it once.

It was almost comical how everyone hurriedly moved as far away from Erza as possible as soon as they caught sight of her. The terror in their eyes made me wonder if Fairy Tail was actually helping the town more than harming it, but I soon dismissed the notion as unimportant.

Was Erza really so intimidating? My mind flashed back to the expression on her face when she'd presented the thrice-be-damned dress to me. It had been the only reason I'd actually put it on in the first place. Yes, I decided, she really was.

"Ah, here we are." she said with a sense of finality, gesturing towards the large guild hall in front of us.

I couldn't remember enough about the series to recognize the different guild halls, so I couldn't tell if this was post Phantom Lord or before the seven year gap. It was a sight to behold, though. It looked like a giant cathedral with a bell tower in its center and surrounded by a fenced wall. An orange banner with a white fairy insignia hung proudly, two floors above the door. We had to enter through a classy wrought iron gate just to get onto the property. Had Fairy Tail always had a guild so... fancy?

I kept my silence as Erza led me to the double doors before opening them with a push. They swung inwards with a slight creak. Then I had my first look at the inside of the guild. It was utter pandemonium. Complete bedlam. I have no other words to describe what it was like to witness before my very eyes.

 _This seems more like it_ , I thought, resisting the urge to grasp my forehead in my hand.

The inside was more like the bar I remembered Fairy Tail to be like, complete with trashed furniture and a smiling Mirajane serving drinks. Apparently, we had walked in during the middle of a brawl, though a quick glance at Erza confirmed that she was not even mildly concerned.

"Yo, Erza!" a cocky voice called out. "You're back! C'mere and fight me!"

"Shut up! I'm not done with you yet, you ash-brained piece of burning shit!"

"A-ah, Gray-san, please don't... um, your clothes are..."

"You shouldn't bother with people like these, Wendy. Honestly, it's no place for a young girl to be! You might pick up some of their bad habits."

"So... this is the nice, loving family you were talking about?" I said, turning towards Erza with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed it is." she replied, smiling ever so slightly.

"You didn't tell me that they were so... lively." I replied, not that I hadn't expected it at least to some degree, but this was a bit much. I had already dodged three bottles and a chair. Erza didn't bother to respond to me.

"Mirajane," she said, striding forwards until she was up against the bar.

"Oh, hello, Erza," said Mirajane with the kindest and mellowest demeanor I'd ever seen in a person. Certainly this couldn't be the she-devil? "Ara, what's this you've brought with you?"

"Someone I'm taking to see the master." said Erza. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"Master Makarov is on the east side of the second floor now, doing some paperwork." said Mira. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind too much if you went to see him now."

"I see. Thank you, Mira." said Erza.

"Oh, and good luck, Little Miss." said Mira, waving at me with a beaming smile. I once again vowed retribution against Erza. Perhaps a spell that would embarrass her in front of everyone? Hmm... this bore further thinking.

It was much more peaceful on the second floor, what without the mass of highly volatile, dubiously sober brawlers. It was a nice change of scene. I much preferred peace and quiet to rowdiness. Now if only Erza would let go of my arm...

"Master?" said Erza, knocking on a small, wooden door. She opened it without waiting for an answer.

"Huh, wha– yes, what is it, Erza?" Makarov stumbled over his words, quickly throwing a magazine to the side. I caught a glimpse of a bikini clad woman on the cover. Right, _paperwork_...

"You've completed your mission, then?" he asked, sliding the magazine of dubious purpose under his desk with his foot. Erza appeared not to notice.

"Indeed. I'll be sure to send you the full report later." said Erza. "In the meantime I've brought this child here who claims not to have any parents, something which I am inclined to believe. I thought it might be best to bring the issue to you."

"Hmm, no parents, you say?" said Makarov. "You understand that Fairy Tail is not a foster care home. We are a mages guild. It would not be within protocol to let her stay here."

I twitched at the 'her.'

"Master, surely you're not suggesting to simply leave someone like this to be taken—"

"I said nothing of the sort, Erza. I'm merely telling you that it would be against protocol." said Makarov, rubbing his head tiredly. "I'm sure we could find someone within the guild who would be willing to adopt her. If not... We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"If you will permit me, Master, I would be willing to adopt the child." said Erza, placing a hand over her breastplate.

Makarov suddenly turned white as a sheet, sweat dripping down his head at her proclamation.

"Ehem, well, that's wonderful." Makarov coughed out. "However, it might be best to check around the guild first for any other candidates before making a decision."

"Yes, of course," said Erza, lowering her head. "please forgive my presumptuousness. You may hit me now."

"Err, that won't be necessary, Erza." said Makarov, looking as though he'd much rather be in any other place at the moment.

"I think you forgot to mention something, Miss Erza." I spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"I am a mage." I said, creating a small fireball above my hand. "So that means I can join a mages guild, right?"

"Oh, that does change things a bit." said Makarov, nodding sagely. "If you join, then you can legally be under the care of the guild at large."

"So, can I join?" I asked simply.

Makarov stared intently at me for a few seconds. I couldn't help but feel a bit of nervousness at his searching gaze.

"Alright, you can join!" he said cheerfully. "You look like you'll grow into a fine lass in a few years, ehehehe." Ah, the lecherous old pervert stereotype.

"Sorry to disrupt your sick, inappropriate fantasies, Master Makarov, but I'm actually a boy."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...eh?"

/

"Excuse me, Miss Mirajane," I said. "Master Makarov said that I could join the guild. Miss Erza said that I had to get a stamp...?"

"Oh, are you a mage?" she asked kindly. "That's wonderful. I'll go get the stamp."

Something about that silver haired mage just made it seem as though you could trust her with anything, like that really friendly kid in school that not even the bully can bring himself to make fun of. She simply oozed niceness in a way that just wasn't possible to fake. I knew immediately that I would want to become friends with her.

"Here we are." said Mira. "Where would you like to have to it?"

"Um, I suppose I'll have it... eh... I'll have it on my shoulder, the right one, please." I decided, showing the bare skin. Stupid sleeveless dress...

"Okay, then," she said, placing the stamp onto the side of my shoulder and pressing down lightly. A small flash of light glimmered on my skin and she removed it. There it was, a dark, purplish blue. It was official, then— I was a mage of Fairy Tail.

"I'm a Fairy Tail wizard..." I murmured to myself. "Um, Miss Mirajane, do you know what I'm supposed to do now?"

"Well there isn't really any requirement left for you, if that's what you mean. I guess you can stay here for a while, if that's what you'd like." said Mira. "Or you could go back home to your parents whenever you need to. Oh, and you can just call me Mira, you know. It comes with being a part of the family."

"Thank you, Miss Mira," I said. "but that's going to be a problem. I don't have any parents. Or a place to stay, for that matter."

Mira gasped and covered her mouth as her eyes widened drastically. Was it honestly such a surprise? I was fairly certain that it described at least half of the members here. Wasn't this the basically super-powered orphan guild?

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." she breathed out, and continued to apologize profusely.

"Hey, Mira, it's alright." I interrupted her. "You don't have to apologize. I'm just wondering what to do now."

"I... I guess you could always move into Fairy Hills. I'm sure the other girls wouldn't mind chipping in to pay your rent until you can start taking enough jobs to take care of yourself." said Mira, still gazing ar me pityingly.

"Um, I don't think that would be very appropriate, Miss Mira." I said. It wouldn't be too long until puberty started up again and unleashed hell on my psyche, after all.

"How do you mean? I'm sure the others wouldn't mind, so you don't have to worry about being a bother." said Mira. "Really, it's alright."

"I'm a boy, Miss Mira." I said, heaving a great sigh. "My name is Brian."

There was a slight widening of her eyes again and she blinked very rapidly for a few seconds. She seemed to recover after that, though. She'd certainly taken it much better than Makarov had.

"Oh, I see..." she trailed off uncertainly, eyeing the dress ( _the_ dress, not _my_ dress) I was wearing.

"To make a long story short, I ended up burning my clothes to ashes and Erza said it was the only thing she had that would fit me." I explained. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get some more... suitable attire very soon."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." said Mira. "Maybe you could stay with one of the members that has their own house? I'll be sure to ask around for you. Until then, feel free to hang around here for a while. If you get hungry, just come to me and I'll fix you something up. Sound good?"

"Yes, thank you very much, Miss Mira." I said, beaming up at her. She was just such a lovable person.

/

There were a few things that I noticed rather quickly after mingling among some of the guild members for a while. The first was the use of Japanese honorifics. I heard a 'san' or 'chan' or 'sama' (though only from a certain water mage) in every other sentence, it seemed, despite everyone speaking English. From what I could gather, using 'miss' or 'mister' was considered fancy-talk, like calling someone 'madame' or 'monsieur.'

The other thing I noticed was that from the large majority of the people, I was talked down to. It was very condescending and, as a sixteen (coming on seventeen now) year old, I did _not_ appreciate it. It was one thing to sit next to a bunch of little kids and listen to stories for a while, it was another thing to have everyone pat you on the head with a 'don't worry your pretty little head about it' expression on their faces. This needed to end. Now.

"Alright, you dumb bastards!" I yelled out, amplifying my voice just a tad with magic. "You've got me all in a pissy mood now! So who wants get the shit kicked out of them first, huh?!"

"-just a little kid-"

"-wouldn't be manly-"

"-just let the brat get a cool head-"

"-after all, I don't fight little girls."

That last one was from a man with long, shaggy black hair and metal piercings in his everything. I vaguely recognized him as Gajeel, the iron dragon slayer.

"Looks like you're volunteering, Raditz Cosplay Boy!" I yelled, throwing the strongest bolt of lightning magic at him that I could muster without an incantation.

"Oh, fuck off, you bitchy five-year-old!" he roared. "That actually fucking hurt! And what the hell is a Raditz anyway?!"

"Come over here and make me!" I called back. "I'm gonna pound you into iron filings!"

"Bwahahahahaha!" roared Natsu. "You just got beat down by a little girl, Gajeel!"

"Can it, Pinky! You're next!" I said, pointing an accusatory finger at the offending dragon slayer.

"Iron Dragon Club!"

One quick jump to the left and I was out of harm's way, though the same could not be said for the floor. Now this was more like it!

"Wood Make: Rune Formation 7!" I called out, channeling the correct amount of magic to create the wood, and then channeling even _more_ magic into the runes _on_ the wood. "Barrier Seal!"

Now this was one of the more complicated spells in my arsenal. By setting up twenty one wooden poles with various runic arrays carved into them, it was possible to surround something with a space-time barrier that would not allow anything to pass through it, either in or out. You would not believe the amount of tries it took to create a decent runic array for it that wouldn't explode in a massive ball of fire. Damn, Alkashi Runes were volatile!

The major downfall of the barrier was that it couldn't pass through solid objects, other than the poles used to create it, and it also didn't cover the top and bottom, only forming an open cylinder. It wouldn't be too hard to dig under. With the roof, he could also just smash through it and escape from above.

But _he_ didn't know that.

"Oi, what the hell is this?!" said Gajeel, his voice muffled almost entirely, as though he were standing in a tube of glass.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I said, smirking. He wouldn't be able to hear me. "Wood Make: Crushing Fist!"

A huge block of wood shaped vaguely like a hand crashed down from the ceiling directly above the iron dragon slayer. Unfortunately, though, he shredded the entire construct with an Iron Dragon Roar. Without any runic enhancement, it was just wood, after all.

And now that ceiling was open, Gajeel jumped straight through it and then came crashing down through the ceiling himself, a few feet closer to me. Shit.

"You're not half bad, Gaki, gihihi." said Gajeel, his arm already made into an iron blade. "But you shouldn't mess around with a dragon slayer.

"Demon Art: Grand Hell King Summoning Jutsu!" I cried out. Too bad it was a made-up spell, because that name was awe-inspiring, in a cliché, Naruto-ish kind of way.

To those around me, a huge magic circle appeared below my feet, colored an ominous scarlet. From it rose an enormous creature made of twisted red and black flesh, surrounded by a deep, crimson fire. Curled ram's horns protruded from its head and chipped, yellow fangs dripped with saliva. An oppressive aura seemed to echo in the room.

A combination of Illusion Magic and a bit of Pressure Magic. The 'Hell King' was completely harmless, but damn if it wasn't a sight to run away from, screaming. Unfortunately, Gajeel had balls of steel, and turned up to face the illusion, staring into its eyes. He hesitated for a few moments, however, and that was all I needed.

"Wood Make: Tendrils of the Binding Earth." I murmured, while everyone was distracted with the illusion-monster.

Thick tree roots burst up from the floors, still with a few leaves on them, and began tightly constricting everyone in sight, aside from a select few (including Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, Wendy Marvel, and the Exceeds). The 'Hell King' faded into the air.

Within thirty seconds, most everyone was encased in thick, knotted wood, only their heads showing. They were particularly thick around Natsu, as the pink haired idiot was burning through it at a rate that would see the wood reduced to ashes in a minute or two. For now, though, it seemed pretty obvious that I had won this.

"Two things!" I shouted, letting a light illusion surround me with a dark halo. "One: you don't get to call me 'little brat' until you can kick my ass, so shut the hell up, you condescending bastards! Two: I am a boy! B-O-Y, Boy! I don't care what the hell kind of clothes I'm wearing, but you damn well better remember it! So are there any other _comments_ any of you would like to make?! Huh?!"

There was dead silence in the room. Mira was still smiling serenely behind the bar and Erza looked as though she approved of the situation. Well, go figure.

"That's what I thought." I said, snapping my fingers. The tendrils of wood retreated back into the ground, releasing the other Fairy Tail members.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS HOLY HAPPENED HERE!" yelled a furious voice. Behind me, I could see a colossal, humanoid figure. I would have been cowed, had I not dealt regularly with creatures of equal size and might. "FIRST I START HEARING A RUCKUS ALL THE WAY FROM MY OFFICE ON THE SECOND FLOOR, THEN THE ENTIRE BUILDING STARTS SHAKING LIKE A LEAF IN THE WIND, AND NOW WHEN I COME TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED, I FIND THE ENTIRE FIRST FLOOR SMASHED TO PIECES?! THIS IS GOING TO COST A FORTUNE! AND IT'S THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH!"

"Oh, hello, Master," I said, casually picking at my finger nail. "I guess I went a bit overboard. Sorry about that."

/

"Stupid, under-grown troll of a Master," I muttered, sweeping a pile of debris into a large pile with a push broom. "making me clean the guild without magic..."

"Well, you did do a lot of damage to the guild hall, after all." said Mirajane, though she still sounded sympathetic.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "but it was all for a good cause. I wasn't even that angry with any of them. I just wanted to get a message across, that just because I'm a little kid doesn't mean I can't kick their collective asses from here to Sunday."

"Well, I think you've certainly succeeded there." said Mira, stifling a giggle. "I think I've heard Natsu and Happy calling you Mini-Erza. It was an impressive display of magic, especially for someone your age. I bet you could make S-class in a year or two. You'd be the youngest S-class mage in a century."

"Well, you might notice how I decided not to target the only two S-class mages that were in the room at the time." I said. "I don't think you and Erza would have too much trouble with those wood bindings. Besides, it's not like anyone there was really going all out; it was just a brawl."

"Don't sell yourself short, Brian." said Mira. "I don't think anyone here would've been able to do anything close to that powerful when they were your age, even among the S-class. Just think about how strong you'll be ten years from now."

"Ehehehe, thanks, Mira," I said, rubbing the back of my neck and blushing just a tad. "you really know what to say." Then a small smirk curled over my lips. "Of course, it's not as though I wasn't holding back as well."

"Really?" said Mira. "You must have put a lot of effort into learning magic. I've never even heard of a magic that allows you to summon monsters like you did. The closest I can think of is Celestial Spirit Magic."

"Oh, the Grand Hell King Summoning Jutsu?" I said. "That was just an illusion. Worked pretty well, I think."

"Hmm, that makes a bit more sense." she said, nodding her head. "As talented as you are, it would be completely impossible to learn two types of magic, but small magics like Illusion and Transformation aren't too hard to learn on the side."

"Right, that would be way too difficult, even for me." I said, sweating just a bit. Maybe it would be best to go into that reveal slowly. "On the bright side, I'm pretty sure Master Makarov can't forbid me from going on dangerous missions just because I'm young."

"Mm, I guess that's true." she agreed.

A comfortable silence settled between the two of us as I continued to sweep of pieces of broken furniture and other destroyed paraphernalia. It was peaceful in a way, with nobody else there. It reminded me a bit of the cool nights in the forest, sleeping among the trees.

"I think you can stop for now," Mira finally broke the silence. "The guild closes up in a few minutes and someone your age should've been in bed hours ago."

"Alright," I said, dropping the broom and letting it clatter to the floor.

"I'm sorry I didn't get much time to ask around, so you can stay at my place tonight." she said. "You'll get to meet my little brother, Elfman. I think he was a part of the brawl as well."

"Really?" I said, quickly brightening up. "Thank you so much, Mira!" I threw my arms around her in a tight embrace, though my head was only a bit above her waist, so I had to settle for her legs.

"Oh, it's no problem." said Mira, patting me on the head. "We can also find you some other clothes in the morning."

 _I suppose I'd rather forgotten what it was like to be around other people. There's nothing that can really compare. So for the first time in far, far too long, I was able to say 'I'm home,' without lying to myself._

"Fairy... Tail..."

 _And wasn't it just?_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Fairy Tail's Strongest; Into the Dark Unknown!

It took four days and two hundred thousand jewel, but the guild hall was eventually repaired. Taking this into account, I made sure to keep my thoughts far away from brawling.

It seemed I had managed to gain a rather strange reputation. I was the 'nice little polite kid until you tick him off.' Or, in Natsu's case 'until you tick _her_ off.' He didn't seem to understand that I wasn't the exact same as Erza. I had restrained myself from pummeling him, however, as it would likely have resulted in more damage, and thus, more cleanup duty.

On a side note, Mira had stayed true to her word and gone shopping with me for clothes. Under ordinary circumstances, this would have been a nightmare, a true manifestation of hell on earth. However, with the strange styles around Fiore, I found it was actually rather entertaining.

I ended up getting a black coat with a high collar that came up around my neck. For the most part, it hid whatever I wore under it, so I didn't bother too much with shirts and pants. I was beginning to see the appeal of wearing a long, dark cloak.

Of course, I had wanted something aesthetic to go with the coat on my head. I had tried to get some earrings, but Mira had said I would have to wait until I was older to get any piercings. Apparently, the same applied to facial tattoos. Oh come now, you couldn't say that Jellal didn't look mysterious with it. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

I had almost gone off in search of a white toga to go over the coat, because _damn_ if that Black Mage didn't have good taste. I decided against it, though, as I figured it would probably do more harm than good. Altogether, the outfit gave me a mysterious air. Not quite so much as, say, Mystogan, but it was definitely there.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and gazed around at the rest of the guild. They were all, I suppose you could say, 'chilling' together. There was one particular thing that caught my eye, however.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Erza-san?" I asked, wondering why the redhead was constantly glancing at me. Once I had learned that it was normal, I had taken to using honorifics whenever I could. They were fun.

"I'd like to have a word with you." said Erza, her eyes shifting about from wall to wall. "In private, if you would prefer."

'If _I_ would prefer?' What was this all about?

"Uh, sure." I said, after hesitating for a moment.

She pulled me off to the side and through a doorway to a set of stairs. She closed the doors then, muffling the boisterous chatter of the guild in the main room. We wouldn't be overheard.

"What do you need to talk about, Erza-san?" I asked, feeling a bit of nervousness settle in the bottom of my stomach.

"Earlier, you promised me an explanation for what happened during the incident on the train." said Erza. "It's been a few days since then and you've begun to settle in here."

"Hmm, you're right, I did promise that." I said, letting out a small sigh. "I'll answer you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone until I'm ready to tell them myself. It's not something I want getting out."

There was tense silence for an eternal moment before she nodded her assent. I let out a deep breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"Erza-san, if I asked you what kind of mage I was, how would you answer?" I began.

"You are a Wood Make Mage, of course." she said easily. I nodded my head to that.

"Yes, that's incorrect." I said, allowing myself a small smile.

Erza merely raised an eyebrow in askance.

"Of course, I'm able to use Wood Make Magic, as you've seen for yourself, but it wouldn't be correct to call me a Wood Make Mage." I said. "Wood Make is one of twenty one different magics I am able to use with considerable adequacy."

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Absolutely impossible." she said. "As soon as you begin to learn one type of magic, you must dedicate your entire self, mind, body, and soul to that one magic. Learning even the basics of a second magic is a skill limited only to the higher levels of S-class mages, once they've completely mastered their first magic."

"So I've heard." I said. "However, it seems no one bothered to tell me of this when I started learning. I had a book with a lot of different types magics in it, so I just set out trying to learn them, one by one."

"Even when extremely powerful mages begin to learn a secondary magic, it has to be similar to their first magic, or their own souls will fight against them." said Erza. "What kinds of magic do you know?"

"Illusion, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Flight, Voice Enchant, Transformation, Wood Make, Steel Make, Requip, Pressure, Gravity Change, Invocation, Severance, Alkashi Rune, Dispel, Illumination, and Barrier Magic." I counted them off on my fingers.

"Many of those are directly contradictory to each other." she said slowly. "One cannot be a fire mage and a water mage— they'll cancel out. And I don't even recognize a few of those."

I held both of my hands out, palms up, and formed a spinning ball of water in one and a churning mass of fire in the other.

"I wouldn't know what magics are well known around here, but a few of those are Lost Magics, so that might explain it." I said.

Erza shook her head vigorously as if to clear it, before staring me straight in the eyes. It was impossible to make out what she was thinking. I let the fire fizzle out and the water splash to the floor.

"...I can understand why you would not want this to become common knowledge." she said finally. "However, I think it would be best to at least inform the master of this."

"I already have." I said. "I figured if anyone needed to know, then it was him."

"Very well then, if that is the case, I have only one more question for you, Brian." said Erza. "If you had to rank yourself, how strong would you say that you are?"

"Hmm, that's a good question." I said. "I can't really say for sure, since I don't have a lot of experience with other mages. If I prepard for a bit and managed to get the drop on you, I think I might be able to hold my own against you. I'm much more used to fighting against monsters, though."

"Hmm, I see." said Erza. I could tell that some gears were turning in her head. What she was thinking about, I couldn't say. "Your secret is safe with me. Thank you for explaining this."

And with that, she turned abruptly and left back through the door. I paused for a few moments before I decided to reenter the main building as well. I couldn't keep her thoughtful expression out of my mind, though.

/

With five days as a Fairy Tail mage under my belt, I was beginning to contemplate going on my first mission. I didn't want to make it anything _too_ hard, but I was going to need a source of cash eventually. I couldn't just mooch off of Mira and Elfman for the duration on my tenure.

So naturally, I was at the request board, looking for something simple and easy. I probably wouldn't have any difficulties with a monster-slaying quest, but even still I thought it might be best to pick something more suitable for the average ten-year-old. I was currently deciding between two.

 _Recover Lost Wedding Ring!_

 _I've lost my precious wedding ring somewhere in Magnolia. I need a good, responsible mage to help find it. I don't know what I'd do without that ring!_

 _Location: 12, Lovebridge St., Magnolia Town_

 _Reward: 10,000J_

 _._

 _Help Construction at Sylvis Theater_

 _The Sylvis Theater has been undergoing renovations and repairs, but the progress is slow and a major show is scheduled a few days from now, on the 8th. We need a hard-working mage who can help with construction._

 _Location: 117, Main St., Magnolia Town_

 _Reward: 25,000J_

 _._

The second one gave a higher reward, and construction couldn't be too hard with my Wood Make Magic. On the other hand, finding a wedding ring that could be anywhere in the city-sized town could be very difficult and it offered a lesser pay. Second one it was, then.

Just as I was reaching out to grab the request sheet, two members of Fairy Tail burst through the door, panting and sweaty, with a strangely anticipatory look in their eyes.

"Big News!" one of them shouted. "Big News! He's coming back!"

Several people were beginning to ask exactly who the two were referring to, myself among them, when the loud gong of a bell resounded through the guild, probably through the entire city. What on earth was happening now?

"This bell, doesn't that mean..."

"Yeah, he's here! He's finally coming back!"

It would've been helpful to those of us who were out of the loop for someone to explain who the mysterious 'he' was. No one bothered to, though.

 _ATTENTION MAGNOLIA!_ echoed a loud voice. _GILDARTS SHIFT IS ABOUT TO INITIATE! PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR DESIGNATED AREAS!_

 _Gildarts?_ I thought, my eyes widening. _Holy fuck!_

The excited chatter continued as the entire town of Magnolia split itself in half to accommodate the crash mage. A strange series of pistons and other mechanical devices formed a walled path straight to the guild, which was was rising upwards. The transformation ended with a loud bang as everything settled into place.

There were a few minutes in which I waited with baited breath. Someone had finally begun to explain that Gildarts was Fairy Tail's strongest mage to the newer members, though I was barely listening. This was _Gildarts_ we were talking about!

It finally happened, as the doors opened with a small creak and a tall figure in a ragged cloak stepped into view. With his reddish brown hair and dumb grin, the strongest mage this side of the continent stepped into the guild hall.

For a moment, he adopted a quizzical expression, as though subconsciously noticing that something was off. Nonetheless, his face returned to normal shortly after and he continued in. The entire hall was silent.

"Fight me!" screamed Natsu, setting his fist ablaze. The crash mage didn't seem to notice.

"Already, huh?" said Gray, shaking his head.

"Hmm," Gildarts hummed, turning to meet Mirajane. "Say, Miss, would there happen to be a guild called Fairy Tail around here somewhere?"

"This is it." she answered easily. "And I'm Mirajane."

"Mira...?" echoed Gildarts, studying her closely. His eyes widened as he struck his palm with his fist. "Woah, you've really changed a lot! And, wait a minute, this guild looks totally different!"

"Gildarts!" yelled Natsu. "I'm gonna fight you!"

He charged forward, fists blazing, and lunged for the crash mage. With a small movement of his arm, Gildarts grabbed onto his arm and threw him easily into the ceiling, where he stayed for a few moments before falling to the floor in a pained heap.

"Eh, maybe later, Natsu." said Gildarts, waving him off. "Ah, man, it's been a while. So many new faces here."

"He- he just- with Natsu...!" stammered Lucy, openly gaping.

"Oh, Master, long time no see!" said the crash mage, grinning broadly, turning to face Makarov where he was seated at the bar.

"How did the mission go, Gildarts?" said Makarov, taking a swig of bear.

"Hmm, the mission..." said Gildarts. "Turns out it was too hard for me— I didn't finish it."

"I see." replied the guild master. "That's unfortunate, but you're the first person I know who's come back from that particular mission alive, so I'm just glad to have you back here."

Chatter slowly began to fill up the room again as the people began to return to their conversations or strike up new ones. There was much to talk about, after all, with the return of Fairy Tail's strongest mage.

I had no reason to pursue a conversation with Gildarts, though I was sorely tempted, if only to meet a mage who I had no hope of defeating. As such, I simply kept to myself, occasionally mingling with the crowd. Perhaps I'd go on that mission in a bit.

Eventually, Gildarts left, blowing a hole in the wall instead of taking the door. He didn't seem to notice. Of course, Natsu, being who he was, decided to copy him and also left after busting another hole. It was amusing, in the same way watching a dog chase its tail is amusing. There was nothing else to do for now, though.

/

Missions were a surprisingly good means of entertainment, it seemed. When using the word 'job,' it seemed to imply 'work,' which implied strenuous effort for an unenjoyable task. It was hardly anything like that, though.

Wood Make Magic had made rebuilding the theater a cakewalk, much to the astonishment of the mundane workers. Of course, I'd had to go through the process of explaining 'yes, Sir, I know I'm a nine-year-old; yes, I can still do the job,' but a quick demonstration had settled the matter.

There was just some kind of natural pleasure to be found in the awe of so many others who were older than me. Hopefully, I wouldn't develop a superiority complex or delusions of grandeur because of it, though. One could never be certain with something as fickle as the teenage mind...

I had, of course, gone on another mission as well, this time accompanied by Cana Alberona. We were supposed to slay a monster on the outskirts of the Magnolia Forest. The card mage had only come to make sure I didn't end up dying (as if!), as I was, at least in appearance, still a little kid. Apart from that, however, the mission had been solely completed by myself. It hadn't been a terribly strong monster, easy enough to overcome with elemental magics.

No, that hadn't been the problem at all. The problem had been when the clients, who worked as a part of the Magic Council, had decided to profile me as Fairy Tail's newest 'disaster in the making.' Apparently, it was 'inhuman' for a grade-schooler to beat down a twenty foot tall, living death machine and treat it like a game.

Barely a week and a half out of the forest and I was already gathering infamy!

"Ugh, damn the Magic Council..." I groaned, letting my head fall onto the wooden counter of the bar. If only I was old enough to drink... "Suspending me from A-class missions..."

Obviously, since the Council was comprised solely of stuffy old men and assholes, I was no longer allowed to take on missions of a higher rank than A. Supposedly, it was was to 'protect the best interests of my future and wellbeing.' Bastards.

If I couldn't drink my ire away, then I'd do the next best thing: eat lots and lots of sugar. I think I was beginning to give Erza a run for her money in the cake department. Eh, I could do with a sugary gorge-fest after a few years, couldn't I?

It was hard to stay depressed for too long in the effervescence of the guild hall, though. Surrounded by laughing, jubilant idiots— It sort of rubs off on you.

 **But it was not meant to be.**

Among the happy chatter around me, I drowned out the world and felt myself slipping into a comfortable haze. Maybe it would be good to take a nap? Goodness knew this tiny body needed far too many of them. Then something happened to jolt me to awareness in total clarity.

In a single moment, I noticed something off about the air, like it had been supercharged with static electricity, just barely tingling on the skin. In the next moment I could see, hear, and feel everything around me warp and distort, as though space itself was being pulled upwards at an angle. In the final moment—

Absolute Blackout.


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N): So here's chapter six. I'm not gonna lie, this one just doesn't feel right to me. It's definitely a bit rushed and sudden. Nonetheless, after rewriting it a few times, this is the best I can do for now. Maybe later, I'll go back and draw it out into multiple chapters or something.**

 **Regardless, I hope you'll still find it entertaining. There's certainly lots of action in here.**

/

Chapter Six: Déjà Vu; The Next World Over!

The situation was as follows: I had woken up on the ground, aged somewhere from eight to ten, without any clue as to how I'd gotten there, nor any prior warning that this situation would occur.

"This seems eerily familiar," I said, standing up and brushing some dirt off of my coat. At least I wasn't naked this time around, certainly a plus. "Now, where am— Oh, what the hell!"

I was surrounded on all sides by armored soldiers, armed with spears of some sort. We were in some kind of plaza. Had I gotten drunk and gone on a rampage or something? Everything was kind of hazy...

"Say, soldier guys, I don't suppose you could tell me where I—"

"Apprehend the Earthland Mages at all costs, men!" interrupted one of the soldiers.

"Oh, for the love of—" I started, once again to be interrupted.

"Gihi, Iron Dragon Roar!"

There was a sudden decrease in the amount of soldiers still standing. Gajeel? What was he doing here?

"Steel Make: Buckshot!" I yelled, still only mostly in my right mind. A barrage of scrap metal came flying out of my hand— was what should have happened. "Eh?"

Not so much an iron filing came out of me. I tried to access my magic again, but it was to no avail. Nothing I did could release my magic into any sort of spell.

Now, to someone for whom magic had been their only means for survival for the past year and a half, having it vanish suddenly after waking up in a strange land was rather disconcerting. I admit to maybe having a small, minor mental breakdown while Gajeel carried me off to safety.

"G-Gajeel! I can't use magic! It's gone now... I'll never get it back..." I sobbed into his shoulder.

"Oi Oi, pull yourself together!" he shouted, slapping me across the face.

"Oww... that was mean, Gajeel." I whined, still sobbing.

"What the hell is wrong you? Here, just swallow this damn pill, alright?!" said Gajeel, shoving a small, red bead into my mouth. It fell down my throat without difficulty.

"What? This is—" I said, feeling my magic unlock itself and start coursing through my body. "Oh, thank you so much, Gajeel-sama!"

"Get off me, you freaky brat!" he yelled, landing a blow atop my head. "We don't have time for antics! Natsu and Wendy and Lucy have been captured!"

"...huh?"

"Come on, I'll explain on the way!"

/

As soon as the word 'Edolas' came out of his lips, I knew immediately what had happened. Which was good, since Gajeel was terrible at explanations.

Apparently, we were going on a rescue mission to save the other two dragon slayers and Lucy from the evil kingdom of Edolas. Go figure. Of course, I didn't miss out on the opportunity to make some plans of my own, and a certain idea that I found quite appealing came to mind.

But before I could do anything with that, though, I had to launch that rescue mission Gajeel had been talking about, something which he would not be accompanying me with, it seemed. So be 'we,' I mean 'I.' Supposedly, he was looking for a giant lacrima that had all the people of Magnolia trapped inside it. Bastard.

But I did get to infiltrate the castle, which was nice, even if the layout was complicated and nonsensical. Seriously, what idiot had decided to put an amusement park inside of a _castle_? I certainly stayed far away from there, I can assure you.

But where would they keep the dungeons, if not underground?

"—want to get to Carla, you'll have to go through _me_ first!"

Was that Happy?

"Hmph, so be it, then."

And when did Erza start sounding like a villain? Oh, wait, other world. That made sense. Now would probably be a good time to step in. If everything went according to plan, I'd even be able to carry out that _idea_ of mine.

First step— the Transformation spell. Perfect. Next step— Voice Enchant to make me sound more powerful. Final Step—

"World Severance: Area!" I called, channeling the appropriate magic energy into the spell.

As I turned the corner, I caught sight of Erza Scarlet, scratch that, Erza _Knightwalker_ , shoving her lance into my favorite blue cat, or at least trying to. She couldn't seem to move the tip closer than an inch from his face. Lucy Heartfillia and Carla looked on in horror, which slowly morphed into bafflement.

" **I'm afraid that isn't going to work, human.** " I said, stepping slowly forward. Everyone's heads swiveled to meet me, before their eyes all widened, for different reasons. Standing before them was not a small child, but an even smaller creature, with black fur, pointed ears, and proud wings as pure as snow.

"Exceed!" cried the solders surrounding Erza, some of them dropping to their knees.

"You fools!" said Erza. "The Exceed have no control of us any longer! They are weaklings and pretenders! Rise to your feet!"

" **Are you so certain of your own power, human?** " I said tauntingly. " **Do you not recognize that the one who stands before you cannot be defeated by mortal hands?** "

"You are just another Exceed." said Erza. "I will destroy you before moving on to the others, if I must. You hold no authority here."

" **Such ignorance is unbecoming of you, human.** " I said, clucking my tongue. " **I am Asceldaimus, God of the Exceed. It was I who granted their Queen her power to wreak judgement upon mankind. And it is I who shall return to you the sins which you committed against my people.** "

"Do not presume to fool me with such lies!" she screamed, but I could see the uncertainty spawn in her eyes and latched onto it.

" **Ah, but, my little human, why would I ever need to fool you when you're doing so well to fool yourself?** " I said. " **Look deep inside yourself and ask this question: are you truly going to win a rebellion against the gods?** "

In response, she charged forward with her lance, striking the air in front of me. But once again, she could only touch the air an inch from my face.

Severance Magic was always so useful for these types of things. By severing a small area of space from the rest of reality, it became impossible for anything to pass through it. The space didn't exist, so no object could occupy it. Therefore, nothing could pass through it; it was the ultimate shield.

"Rune Save!"

The spear morphed into a new form and then shot straight towards my head. Had she just _sliced_ _through_ the spacial distortion? No, that was impossible. But perhaps she'd cut through the magic holding it together. Yes, that could be.

" **Oh, not too shabby, but you're still only human, you know.** " I said, waving an arm dismissively at her as I dodged the strike. In truth, my heart was pounding in my chest. That had been far too close. " **But while you're occupied with me... Lucy, go get Natsu and Wendy!** "

"A-aye!" she yelled, saluting before bolting off in the opposite direction, Happy and Carla following behind her. Was I really that scary? Maybe Lucy was just scare-able like that.

"Melforce!"

And there was another spear stroke, which crashed straight through the floor from its sheer power. I jumped upwards, hovering in the air with Flight. To Erza and her army, however, it would seem that I was using my exceed wings. Now, how to draw her attention elsewhere?

" **You know, human, I've been thinking,** " I said casually, dodging another stab and throwing a bolt of Lightning Magic her way. " **there's all these soldiers here who are a part of your army and I can't help but wonder... do you really care about them?** "

Erza did not respond, except with her lance.

" **Hmm, let's find out, shall we?** " I said, clapping my hands together in front of my chest. " **Steel Make: Serpent!** "

A silvery magic circle expanded into existence on the stone floor. From it, a metal monster emerged, a king cobra forged of steel and animated by magic. Dynamic Steel Make and Wood Make creations were always so much more fun than static ones.

The serpent rose to full height, its head towering over the Edolas soldiers. In a lightning fast motion, it struck down, just barely missing and not crushing or biting half of them to death.

"Explosion!" said Erza, her lance morphing again. As she slashed down at the steel construct, a flash of fire burst out, damaging it heavily. Within five seconds, it was no more than a pile of scrap metal. But I hadn't spent those five seconds lazing about.

"— **ashes of the four winds, blaze evermore unto the Twilight. Forever shall the fire churn. Crash forth, _Magnum Solaris_!** "

By the time I'd finished with the incantation, Erza was only a few feet in front of me, well within stabbing distance. She opened her mouth to call out a new form for her Ten Commandments, but she was too late.

An enormous, fierce rush of golden fire erupted from in front of me, knocking her back. These were no ordinary flames. According to the Compendium, these were the flames of Agni, the greatest fire spirit to ever live, and they could out-burn the sun if the magic powering them was strong enough.

I grimaced heavily.

An agonized scream tore out of Knightwalker's throat as the fire continued to gush out in torrents. It was one thing to use the spell on a twenty foot tall monster, or even to end someone's life with the quick flash of a spell, but this was something else entirely, something inhumane. I redirected the rest of the flames upward.

"Y-you..." she growled, coming into clear view as the flames died down, clutching tightly to her lance and crawling along the floor. She was burnt badly. Very badly. It was almost painful to even look at what had become of her flesh. "H-how dare... defy the king..."

 _I did this_ , I thought, unsure of how to feel.

After a moment of hesitation, I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder, though I admit it was difficult with the Transformation spell still on. Then, with a very injured Erza in tow, still holding onto her lance, I blasted my way down the hall in a burst of wind magic, searching for someplace far away and empty of people.

/

"Y-you... I will—"

"Shut the hell up and let me do my job, Erza." I said, dispelling my Voice Enchant and Transformation. "Gather the soul, repair the soul, all life that shines in the earthen depths. With such desperation, show me thine ill-wrought mercy. Oh, Soother of Flesh, I am the bearer of the crest. Manifest in peace absolute. Raise the head and lower the feet. Gleam on, _Vitae Adflo_."

A soft glow surrounded the fallen commander as the spell worked its magic, smoothening her flesh and restoring her body. But this wouldn't do, I knew. As much as I wanted to now and as guilty as I felt for it, I couldn't just leave her here to heal and get better. She would come after me again, and I really didn't need the distraction now.

"Wood Make: Tendrils of the Binding Earth." I said, as thick tree roots rose from the ground and snaked around Erza until only her head was showing. Her lance clattered to the floor; she was no longer aware enough to grasp it.

"W-what is the meaning of this?" she demanded, coming to her senses. "Where am I?! Who are you?!"

"Didn't you hear me introduce myself earlier?" I asked, shaking my head. "Silly little human."

"The exceed?" she said, drawing in a deep breath. "What do you want with me? I will reveal no secrets of the king's to you. You may as well kill me now."

"Oh, I'm not actually an exceed." I said. "I was lying before. And using transformation magic, that too. It was supposed to convince you that you had no chance of victory against me, so I could resolve everything without a fight— didn't seem to work so well."

I caught the barest trace of a proud smirk on her face, though perhaps I had only imagined it.

"I brought you here and healed you because I have a bloody soft heart after spending the last two weeks with Fairy Tail. Thank them— they're the only reason I didn't leave you to burn." _And also... you fought against that snake, even though it was only after your men and not you. You deserve my respect for that, at least._

"..." Knightwalker kept her silence, her eyes boring into me. I stared her straight back.

"Oh, and don't think I'll let you be having this back either." I said, picking up her lance, Ten Commandments. With a shimmer of light, it vanished into my Requip space. "The bindings will dissolve in about three days, but I wouldn't hold much hope of you getting out of them before then, even if someone finds you here. This wood is quite resilient."

Without another word, I blasted myself out of the room and down a winding corridor with a burst of wind. I had work to do. And I'd have to do it quickly if I wanted to help Lucy against those weird Edolas mages. She didn't have Gray this time around, if I understood everything correctly. Instead, they'd gotten me, which meant that right now, she was alone with the exceeds against the royal whosie-what's-its.

I stopped abruptly as a squadron of royal soldiers came into view, marching methodically down a hall in unison. A gust of wind blew past me, dissolving off of the stone walls. They didn't notice. Show time.

I took in a deep breath.

"Mama! Papa!" I hollered, a drop of nervous desperation in my voice. "W-Where are you?!"

As expected, this instantly caught the notice of the passing squadron. Their (presumed) leader halted them in their tracks and removed his helmet, head cocked to the side.

"Mama! Papa!" I called again.

"What on earth...?"

"A little kid?"

In a minute or so, I was face to face with one of the soldiers. I observed the caring, gentle smile on his face calculatingly, not that it would seem as much to him. Clearly, this was not the sort of man who would leave a child calling fretfully for their parents.

"Little Sir, are you lost?" he asked, crouching down low and casting warm eyes over me. I almost hesitated at his sincerity.

"I-I can't find my m-mama and papa!" I wailed, pretending to hide my eyes with an arm to wipe away the tears (tears which did not exist).

"Hmm, do you know where your mama and papa might be?" he said.

"I-I dunno; they s-said they w-were goin' to the royal libe-ary." I said, sniffling.

I wasn't certain, but in a castle this large and complex, it could be assumed that there would be some kind of royal library— it was common enough on Earthland and on Earth. In a royal library, it could be assumed that books about whatever the kingdom spent money to research would be there— books about, say, constructing portals to different dimensions. Rather a necessity to the inexperienced world-hopper, don't you think?

"The Royal Library?" echoed the soldier dubiously. Crap, had I made an error? This was a different world, so maybe they didn't have libraries in castles?

"Y-yes," I said, wavering.

"That's a pretty secure area, you know. Only very important people are allowed in there." he said seriously. "Who are your mama and papa?"

"Mama is Mama." I said. "And Papa is Papa."

I heard the chagrined sigh that left his lips quite clearly.

"Alright, let's get you to the library." he decided. "Then we'll see about finding your parents."

"A-ah, thank you so much, Sir!" I said quickly, staring at me feet and shifting from right to left, making sure not to show my face in clear light.

"Alright, men! We're all escorting this young man here to the Royal Library of Edolas!" he announced.

"Eh?!"

"Really?!"

"Oi Oi, we have a schedule, you know..."

The complaints did not cease nor abate in any fashion. A small twitch in his right eye alerted me to the lead soldier's rising irritation.

"Silence! We'll just have to make up for it later!" he said. "Now, come follow me, young Sir; I'll see if I can get you inside."

/

"Absolutely not!"

"But, ma'am, this kid's all alone and he says his parents are inside here! What would you have me do, simply leave him here?"

"Rules are rules, and they exist for a reason! No one without clearance may enter the library!"

So that was that, then. Apparently, the man hadn't been kidding when he'd said 'secure area,' had he?

A short, elderly woman in imposing, purple robes sat behind a large, wooden desk. Behind her was a pair of enormous double doors with a complicated locking mechanism attached at the center between them. There would be no slipping by unnoticed.

"Madame Rose, I cannot in good conscious allow this child to wander the halls of the palace unattended." said the soldier. "Would it at least be possible to send someone else in to search for his parents?"

"It's not that I don't understand your predicament," said 'Madame Rose,' her expression softening. "but if I allow this one exception, there's no telling what kind of disaster such a precedent could cause."

"Even still—!"

" _Mou_ , that's enough." I said, the unfamiliar Japanese rolling off my tongue pleasurably. "If the lady says I can't go in, then there's just no helping it."

Both turned their heads to meet my eyes with their own. I stared forward, letting a small sigh run through my lungs and out my throat. I had been hoping to slip in without causing too much of a scene, so that Edolas forces wouldn't come to apprehend me, but if push came to shove...

"Thank you very much for your help, Sir." I said, bowing slightly to the kind soldier. "However, this is where we will part ways now."

"As I said before, Young Sir, I cannot allow—"

" _Drop_." I said blankly. With a great spike of my magic, I released the full extent of my Pressure Magic and held it for a single instant. Without any magic of their own, all those around me collapsed to the floor, unconscious. "I really am sorry about that..."

With my attack on the personnel here, subtlety had been chucked out the window. There was little to be gained in hiding myself now. Sooner or later, someone would find them. In a place as strange as this, I'd bet it would be sooner rather than later.

"Material Severance: Opening." I said, thrusting my index and middle finger towards the locked doors. With a quick motion, I slashed my arm across at a ninety degree angle, until I was pointing directly left of myself instead of forward.

The magic itself was not visible, but the effects became obvious after a few seconds. A thin line, perfectly straight, sliced down the center of the huge doors, splitting the lock. It was sunlight from the other side.

With a mighty crash, the doors heaved in place before sailing to the ground in a great arc. I winced at the sound. Someone had to have heard that. All the more reason for me to hurry on. I did not bother to hide my presence, swiftly sprinting in through the doorless doorway, taking in the large windows and larger bookshelves.

"Universes, Dimensions, Other Worlds, come on, where are you...?" I muttered glancing at the shelves as I passed. The area was eerily empty of people.

A large, metal sign with bold letters seemingly burned into it with something comparable to a blowtorch stood before a small, wooden door. 'Restricted Research,' it read. A wanton grin lit up my face. That certainly seemed promising.

With a compressed burst of air, the door was knocked from its hinges and flew inwards until clattering lifelessly to the floor. Without a moment's hesitation, I leapt inside, practically bouncing off ofnthe walls. This place was _perfect_.

I scanned the titles one by one, picking up anything that looked as though it might be useful and stowing it away into my Requip space. _Misconceptions and Truths about Spacetime , Forty Sixth Dimensional Geometry, Theory of the Worlds_, this place was a treasure trove. It all eventually amalgamated into one final discovery: _Anima, the Gate Beyond_.

 _Bingo!_

With excitement brimming in my muscles, I stored this book as well, watching as it disappeared in a display of bright lambency. Now that I had this, I could head to Lucy and the others, if only I could figure out where they'd gotten to...

"Halt!"

The powerful male voice stopped me in my tracks as I whipped around and leapt backwards. Something about it was... off.

A muscled form stood before me, clad in gleaming armor, a visored helmet fixed to his head with a yellow, feathered plume. A light, tannish brown half-cloak was draped over the armor, the cape swaying behind him as he walked slowly forward. A sword was gripped in his right hand. Pointed teeth snarled as brown eyes glared icily at me.

"Do not presume to intrude in this castle so lightly!" he said, lowering his stance a few inches in preparation for a charge. "The royal kingdom of Edolas is not to be trifled with!"

 _Impossible..._ I thought, feeling my own eyes widen. _Panther Lily!_

Summoning a strong bolt of lightning to my hands, I summersaulted into the air and released the magic. He swatted it away with his sword, not phased in the slightest. But then his blade expanded rapidly, larger than Knightwalker's lance, larger than a tree, larger than—!

 ** _BAM._**

Something collided with my torso, something large and heavy. It wasn't just blunt, though. I felt something else, the sharp ridge of metal slicing into my flesh, the blood and the PAINPAINPAINPAIN—!

Then the floor came up to meet me with another smash. This time, I definitely felt a few bones snap. My mind was barely coherent now, flashing from thought to thought in some chaotic whirl of sensations. One thing I was certain of, though, was the lifeblood quickly draining from me in outpouring waves.

 _Shit...!_

Just a minute or two. That was all I had left. After that, I was absolutely sure— I would cross the point of no return. Swaying heavily, I dropped to the ground, breathing out in painful gasps.

 _No..._

/

 **(A/N): So there you have it. Brian beats Edo-Erza fairly quickly but then he also gets pummeled by Panther Lily (who is mysteriously not fighting Gajeel) fairly quickly as well.**

 **To explain why that is, even though Panther Lily and Erza Knightwalker are presumably of roughly equal strength, you'll have to understand that, unlike in DBZ, raw power isn't the only deciding factor of a battle in Fairy Tail. Edo-Erza and Panther Lily are about at the same level of power, and Brian is a bit stronger than either of them.**

 **However, whereas he held the element of surprise against Erza, as well as the shock factor from his 'I-am-the-exceed-god' rant and transformation spell, thus defeating her quickly, Panther Lily got the drop on him. Regardless of whether you're as strong as Natsu, getting a giant sword to the chest is a fatal attack. In the circumstances, it is not realistic that Brian would react so quickly to a surprise enemy out of nowhere.**

 **I hope that clears some any confusion you may have had about that.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Vincible Mage; At War with One's Mind

I clutched one hand tightly over my torso, not that it did me any good. For the love of all things holy, why did it have to _hurt_ so much? Blood kept seeping out like some kind of 'fuck-you' river.

"Is this really the same person who took out the leader of the Second Regiment?" said Panther Lily. "Impossible. You are just a little boy, though you do have some strong magic in you. In the end, you simply don't have the experience necessary to win against one of the commanders."

"Shut... the hell up..." I said, rising shakily to my feet. "Like hell... I'm giving up... just yet."

"This fight is over." he said, shaking his head. "If you strain yourself, you will simply die where you stand. Surrender yourself to the authority of the king, and you will receive medical attention."

"Of course I will..." I said bitingly. "no doubt from a nice... cozy cell."

"You are an enemy of the royal kingdom of Edolas." said Panther Lily simply. "It is only appropriate."

"I'll... take the death route... thanks," I said, forcing a small grin across my face. I probably looked more than a bit psychotic, covered in my own blood and smiling.

"Cease your foolishness." he said sternly. "Nothing will come of any resistance now. You've lost."

"I thought... I told you..." I said, gathering magic and filling my body to the limit with it. "I'm... not... _finished!_ "

With raw magic permeating my every cell, the pain began to dissipate just a bit. My head became less foggy and I could start to _think_ again.

I had a few healing spells in my arsenal, though anything strong enough to really help me out of my predicament would fall under Invocation Magic, which meant it would need a good fifteen seconds of chanting at minimum. I could at least try, though.

"Gather the soul, repair the soul, all life that— GAAAGGHHHKK!" I was interrupted by the muscled, furred arm that plowed into my skull with the force of an angry train.

"Do not think me so foolish that I would allow you to perform your Earthland magic here." growled the exceed commander. "Surrender now!"

That was it. The magic drained out of my body as I felt myself go limp. I should have kept my guard up! I had known they were going to send someone after me, but I hadn't thought it would be so soon— hadn't thought that it would have been one of the commanders! Where the hell was Gajeel, anyways? Surely he hadn't lost against this prick?

"Go... to hell..." I mumbled, struggling to keep my eyes open.

"I suppose I could only expect as much from such a little one." he said, giving a gruff sigh. "Let's get you to the medical wing."

A strange warmth came over my body from my right side. It was a nice feeling, getting warmer and warmer. It became a bit uncomfortable, though, too hot, hotter, hotter, _hotter_!

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

I caught sight sight of a surprised Panther Lily leaping aside as a vast swath of unnaturally bright fire crashed into the ground next to me. What was this?

"Oh no, Brian-san! Carla, fly me over there!"

Oh, now that was a nice feeling. A cool, soothing aura encompassed me from head to toe. The bleeding became a small pang in the back of my mind.

Maybe I should take a nap? That sounded great... just... sleep...

/

"Panther Lily!" I started upwards, practically flinging myself out of bed. Bed?

"Oh, you're awake now." came a familiar voice. "You gave us all quite a scare, you know."

"...Mira?" I said, slumping back into the bed. Yes, this was definitely her.

"Oh, so you know me?" she asked. "Ah, of course, you must be thinking about your Mirajane."

"Huh?" I answered intelligently. "What are you... Am I in the Edolas Fairy Tail?"

"Yes." she answered simply. "One of your exceed friends flew you over here. You were in very bad condition. From what I understand, though, it would have been much worse if not for your Wendy's Sky Magic."

"I see... so that's what happened." I said, clenching my fist before letting out a deep breath. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mirajane-san."

"Oh, it's no problem." said Mira. "Even if you're from a different world, Fairy Tail protects their own, after all."

"Hmm..." I said, closing my eyes. "Mirajane-san, how long do you think it will take for me to recover?"

Mira eyed her feet uncomfortably. A sense of eerie foreboding settled down over me like a twenty ton weight on my soul.

"About that... it's not certain that you'll make a full recovery." she answered sadly. "Even if you do, it could take weeks to get you back to full health. You lost a lot of blood, enough to kill someone your age. Even still, the real problem is the damage done to your internal organs. You're going to have to take it easy for a while."

"I see." I answered tersely.

"If... If you don't mind my asking..." said Mira, trailing off.

"You want to know what happened to me." I surmised, not particularly pleased.

She nodded mutely.

"I was careless." I said. "And too arrogant. That's all you need to know."

"Y-yes, sorry," she said, pointedly looking away from me. This Mirajane seemed a bit more... meek.

"I guess there's just no helping it." I said, letting out a forlorn sigh. "There's nothing I can do right now. I've used way too much magic, and my natural Ethernanos regeneration is a thousand times slower than normal, probably because I'm in Edolas. I guess those magic pills can't do everything."

Mirajane still didn't look me in the eye.

"Mou, you don't have to get all silent on me, you know." I said. "I'm not gonna break into some traumatized, sob-ridden mess just because I made a massive screw-up. If I was that weak, I wouldn't have lasted my first month on Earthland."

"Don't be so dismissive about this!" said Mira, suddenly growing heated. "You had your entire chest cut open! You might never be able to live the same way again!"

"Ah, geez, keep a lid on the volume, would you?" I said, rubbing my aching forehead. "I said I wasn't weak, not that I was in excellent condition."

"Oh, sorry..." said Mirajane, reverting to her previous, unassuming state.

"Besides, it's not like this is as big a deal as you're making it out to be." I continued. "As soon as everything gets sucked back into Earthland, I'll build up enough magic to heal myself in a day or two. Well, either that, or everything falls to hell as a giant lacrima crashes into the exceed island, whatchamacallit. In that case, we're all screwed."

"...what do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

Crap... I'd said that aloud, hadn't I?

/

The fact of the matter was I didn't even have enough magical energy left in me to safely Requip one of those books I'd stolen, which I can tell you now is more annoying than it sounds.

I wasn't really one for sitting in bed all day. An hour or two, sure, but not all day. Boredom became my new companion in my bedridden state. What the hell was I supposed to do? Write poetry and sulk in angst? Yeah, fat chance...

 _"—in the salty throbbing of a bitter, black heart; shall the—"_

 _"Hello, Brian?"_

 _"JAAHHH! I wasn't doing anything, I swear!"_

 _"Umm, I just came to check on you, but..."_

Yes, there was no chance of anything of the sort ever happening in any feasible series of events, past, present, or future. Such a notion was, in fact, so ridiculous as to be completely inapplicable even in reference to alternate timelines and parallel universes. Obviously.

But without anything to do, I was left to my own thoughts. For a barely stable teenager (in mind, at least) such as myself, this was a dangerous, dangerous place to be.

It made me begin to think about things like the greater purpose of all creation and the meaning of our own tiny existences. To summarize: a place I did not want to spend any more time in than absolutely necessary. I was not a philosopher, damn it!

But unfortunately, as much as I wanted to bury it under distractions like magic, and fighting, and guild mates, the same overbearing question was still lurking in my brain. It had followed me all the way from Amherst, New York; I'd been sent here before I could answer it.

 _What are you going to do with your life, Brian?_

And I still didn't have an answer for it, even now. I had magic now— real, actual magic. I could lay waste to villages, or build them into mighty cities. What the hell was someone supposed to do with that kind of power?

I held no dreams of becoming a superhero. Goodness knew I had enough on my plate without trying to become the defender of all innocent people. I wasn't going to go around slaughtering virgins every full moon either, though. I was no Voldemort, as much as I loved to play the villain.

I'd collected books about dimensional travel, hoping it might give me a doorway home. But what did home have to offer me? A life of mediocrity and bare content? What did I want: power or mediocrity?

The obvious answer was power. Everyone wanted more power, after all. But what use was power without a goal to achieve with it? Mediocrity was just so much easier. I could see my mother and father again. I could see my sister, my sweet, loving, hell-spawn of a sister. What could be more precious?

But then there were the people at the guild: simple, two-dimensional constructs spawned from the mind of an average man in a foreign country, except that now they were _people_. It shouldn't have been so hard to make a decision on who to leave behind— I'd only spent a week in the guild, after all.

I was pushing this too much. I didn't even know if I _could_ get home. What the hell was I doing, thinking about wise, old crap like this when it was all just a great big what-if? Hell, I needed out of this infirmary soon, or I'd grow a long, white beard as a result of thinking too much about the meaning of all existence.

"Fuck philosophy." I decided. "I don't need to worry about that right now. Leave it to people like Makarov and Gandalf. Right now, I just want to get back to Magnolia. I can take things from there."

/

I think I was beginning to lose the edge on my sanity out of sheer boredom after two days. The forest of monsters had nothing on this. At least then I'd had a goal: surviving and learning magic. I'd known what I needed to do.

But this? This was a true manifestation of hell on earth. Nothing could compare. Humans were curious creatures and liked to exercise their minds with something to do. I had nothing to do but sleep and recover.

My magic reserve was filling up, albeit at a frustrating snail pace. I still didn't want to risk any spells, though. It was nowhere near full capacity, barely a small percentage of the way to full capacity, even. And still I was left to my own devices.

There had been a few times when I'd actually considered trying to write out a haphazard spacetime array with Alkashi runes, just to see what would happen. Such was the fathomless danger of a bored teenager with magic at his disposal.

This was even worse than usual, though. Apparently, Edolas Fairy Tail had been rallied to battle against the kingdom by... someone. I couldn't remember who. The point was that everyone had left the guild except for a small, eight-year old girl named Kinnana who had a personality that would take the coldest hearts in the world... and somehow find a way to make them shiver despite themselves.

I hadn't known it was even possible for such a tiny, prepubescent girl to hold that sheer level of hard cynicism in her. She was mature for her age, certainly, but more in the traumatized, I-had-to-grow-up-way-too-fast kind of way.

"Is there a reason you keep staring at me so intently?" I said, breaking over two hours of maintained silence.

"...You are undefined." she answered, as though her words weren't murkier than Zeref's background. She made no effort to clarify, however, merely pushing a strand of purple hair out of her face.

"Hmm, undefined..." I said, musing thoughtfully to myself. "Unable to be understood, deviating from the natural pattern, something entirely new... You really have a way of saying things vaguely, you know. Maybe you should go into the fortune cookie writing business. You'd make a fortune."

Not so much as a hint of amusement crossed her featured at my admittedly cringe-worthy pun. Wizard? Yes. Comedian? No.

"Man, tough crowd," I said, shaking my head sadly.

"I have observed characteristics of different archetypical personalities over the past five years." she answered in monotone. "None of the precedented patterns correspond to your own. You are an anomaly."

"Well, my mom always said I was special, you know." I said, waggling my eyebrows.

"..."

"Alright, geez, I get it, a no go on the comedy." I replied awkwardly. "It's like talking to a statue here. Or a computer, with all your fancy I-sawllowed-a-dictionary speech."

"...What is a computer?"

"Oh, now _there's_ a long explanation." I said. "It would take me days to explain it to you in detail, months if I actually knew what I was talking about. Let's just say that it's something that's very smart and leave it at that, all right?"

"Understood." said Kinnana, blinking once.

Silence once again settled over the infirmary. It was uncomfortable.

"So, are you going to tell me your tragic backstory?" I said. When boredom reared its ugly head, it could be said that I was as tactful as I was comedic.

"...I do not understand." she answered carefully, staring blankly at me.

"Oh, come on, it couldn't have been more obvious if you'd stuck a label that said 'traumatized child' on your forehead." I said. "Besides, everyone in Fairy Tail was traumatized as a kid. _Everyone_. So are you gonna tell me?"

"..."

"Alright, alright," I said, letting out a disappointed sigh. "I get it— don't touch the evil backstory."

"..."

"You're worse at conversations than Erza." I declared. "She was also traumatized as a child. I wonder if you'll turn out like her... Say, what do you want to be when you grow up, Kinnana-san?"

"...That is unimportant." she answered finally.

"Wrong," I said immediately, losing a bit of humor from my tone. "That absolutely incorrect. It is the most important thing in the world. Now, what do you want to be when you grow up? Please actually answer the question this time, Kinnana-san."

"..."

"Surely there's something you want to do with your life?" I said. "Some tiny goal floating about in that big brain of yours?"

"..."

"Come on, no harm in mentioning it— I know you have one, I can see it in your eyes." I claimed, though I wasn't truly sure.

"..."

"If you don't want me to, I promise I won't tell anyone." I said. "Ever."

"..."

"Come on, you—"

"Scholar." she said tersely.

"Ah, there it is!" I said triumphantly. "You want to be a scholar when you grow up! I approve, I approve!"

She ducked her head in the first gesture of embarrassment I'd yet seen on her. So she was human after all!

"You know, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up." I said wistfully, closing my eyes and leaning back against my pillow. "Never have. Maybe I never will. Who knows?"

"I like information." said Kinnana. "I archive every fact, theory, observation, and conclusion I come across in my mind. What do you like?"

Oh, that was just precious. She was trying to help me. Little, emotionless, apathetic Kinnana was trying to fix me with a goal, socially awkward as she was. My heart almost melted at the gesture.

"Hmm, now there's a tough one." I said thoughtfully. "I like magic, I guess, but that's more like a hobby than anything at this point. Or an addiction. One of the two."

She bade me on with her eyes, just a hint of something other than emptiness in them.

"Erm, well, I like my family, I suppose. Don't see how I could turn that into a career, though." I rambled. "Then there's the color purple, only with that dark and mysterious undertone to it, though. I like music, but I'm a horrible singer and even worse with an instrument. I like books, but I _hate_ writing. Maybe I could teach children how to read? No, I'm not good with children..."

A fierce radiance began to emit from my body without warning and I nearly jumped out of bed at the shock of it. Had someone cast a spell on me? No, wait, what were those weird, glowing tendrils streaming out of the guild? What was happening?

"...undefined." murmured Kinnana. No kidding.

"Oh, that's right, this is how... so that means..." I said, much to Kinnana's confusion. It seemed Fairy Tail had triumphed and Jellal had reversed the Anima gate, ridding Edolas of everything magical. "Thanks for the conversation, Kinnana-san. I want you to be the most well known scholar in the world fifteen years from now, okay? You'd better not let me down!"

"...Why—?"

That was all I heard before a familiar distortion came about my senses, sending me spiraling through the sky. Home sweet home.

 **(A/N): So, not much of an action chapter, though plenty of foundation for some character development in Brian, which is what I really hoped to set up with this chapter. Expect the next chapter in a day or two, possibly with a bit more "HYAAAHH TASTE MY FURY!" in it. Who knows?**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The S-class Mission; A Wicked Plot

/

 _Tuesday, August 7th, X784_

 _Reports from the Magic Council's Office of Investigation state that they have recently found evidence of strange activities in the southeastern region of Fiore, near the town of Felicity. These findings include the heavily disfigured carcasses of local animals and monsters in the surrounding forests, the unexplained disappearances of 37 persons (aged 6-83) from nearby settlements, and residue from an unknown form of Black Magic._

 _The Magic Council is issuing a SS-class request to come to the area, search for illegal activity, and deal with any found in the appropriate manner_

 _Reward: 50,000,000J_

 _For Other Information: Please contact the Magic Council at your nearest public communications lacrima. Office of Investigation at 7739-4._

I looked up from the sheet of paper Erza Scarlet had placed down at the small, circular table where we sat. It was certainly interesting, but...

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Mira and I have decided to take this mission together as a temporary team." said Erza.

"And...?" I prompted.

"I would like you to come with us as well." she answered.

For a few moments, I simply stared at her, my brain working in overdrive to process the statement. She wanted _what_?

"Ha-ha-ha," I laughed mechanically. "That is a very amusing joke, Erza-san."

"I've talked it over with Mira and she agrees." said Erza, ignoring my response. "According to Cana, you took on your first A-rank a few weeks ago and completed it without breaking a sweat. You certainly have the power and discipline to handle this kind of request, as impossible as that should be for someone your age."

"I think you're forgetting the part where the Magic Council banned me from anything higher than B-rank requests." I deadpanned. "If you want to argue your case against the Council, be my guest."

"Technically, they gave you B-class restrictions." she corrected. "Which means that, if accompanied by an officially qualified mage, you can go on missions of higher rank. All you need is the _master's_ permission, which I think shall be far easier to attain."

"...wait, seriously?" I said. "And _nobody_ on the Council thought it might be a good idea to tell me of this interesting little detail?"

"I'm sure it was merely a mistake on their part." said Erza. How she managed to do so with a straight face and apparent sincerity was beyond me. Probably lots of training. Or maybe the emotional conditioning of a traumatizing childhood.

"Of course it was." I said, unable to hold a snort. "I guess I can join in; I don't see why not. God only knows when I'll be able to go on a _real_ job like this again."

"Excellent, the paperwork has already been submitted." she answered. "The response should come by tomorrow."

"Alright, thanks." I said, moving to turn away. "Hey, wait a minute, does that mean you submitted my participation in this before asking me? _Erza_? Hey, I'm talking to you— don't just walk away!"

/

We didn't take a train for this mission, as all the tracks leading to Felicity Town were undergoing repair work (though we were refused any explanation for why that was). Instead, we were loaned a magic four-wheeler by the Magic Council. Erza fueled the thing while Mirajane drove. I was forced to sit in the back seat like a— well, like an eight-year-old kid, I suppose.

But since Mirajane was focused on driving and Erza had to lend some of her concentration to utilize the SE-plug properly, there was no potential for conversation to break out. Thus, it was a profusely boring experience. And we all know what happens to a bored me...

Thankfully, I could at least look out at the shifting scenery, which provided a lazy sort of entertainment for my brain. I would have requipped one of the books from Edolas and pulled it out to read if I hadn't learned to hate each of them with the fiery passion of ten thousand suns.

They were plenty detailed and informative, of course, but not in a way that was useful to me. None of them were designed like he high school textbooks; they were meant to be read and understood by people with years of study and expertise on the topic of extremely advanced mathematics and theoretical physics, not to mention how magic ( _Edolas_ magic) screwed around with everything.

Trying to make sense out of any of it was like trying to learn a foreign language from a dictionary. The information was all there, neatly organized, but there was simply no chance of really learning anything from it.

As such, I had nothing else to do but stare and let my mind wander. Perhaps it would benefit me to carry around a book for entertainment purposes just in case of situations such as this. Actually, come to think of it, I did have one other book in my Requip space.

A bright lambency was erected into a solid form in my hands, fading into the form of a very familiar book. Goodness, I hadn't looked at it in weeks, but here it was again. My eyes glanced almost lovingly over the title. It wasn't an entertainment book, but it would certainly be enough.

 _The Arcane Compendium_ , it read in bold, flowing letters. I'd read it cover to cover several times over the year and a half that I'd had it, but that didn't make it any less interesting. Every time I went through it, I always found a huge amount of details that I'd missed the last time. It was hardly surprising, considering that there were 4,629 pages in it.

Flitting through the pages, I began to read.

 _Elemental Magic_

 _Elemental Magic is a caster-type branch of magic revolving around the six spiritual elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Light, and Darkness. There also exist many secondary elements, which can usually be created from one or more of the six primary elements, and are easily just as powerful._

 _The most common are: Lightning, Ice, Sky, Time, Space, Nature, Poison, Metal, and Void._

 _Each element corresponds to a different aspect of personality, such as with Fire and Passion (see pg. 1,643 for element-aspect chart). Therefore, a person whose personality is heavily centered around one aspect will find it easiest to use that particular element of magic. Learning an element that opposes this natural personal element is nearly impossible, and this will inflict damage to the soul and distort the personality of the wizard irreparably._

 _However, there are several ways to bypass the problem. For some wizards, their personality does not have a central aspect, and they will therefore have equal difficulty with learning any given element, though ease of casting may change depending on the caster's mood in such a case._

 _Even if a wizard does have a central aspect, it is still possible to learn opposing elements. There are some forms of magic which have ties to all of the primary elements, such as Celestial magics and certain Mental magics. Many magics will have ties to several of the elements, secondary and primary, though not all, such as Storm Magic (utilizing Air, Water, Sky, Lightning, and Ice)._

 _In such cases, if one were to learn one of these magics before venturing into elementalism, all the represented elements become available to the wizard in question. Though some elements will be easier to use than others (depending upon the caster's personality and the significance of the element in relation to the parent magic), all can be learned to at least some degree without causing any damage to the spirit or personality of the wizard._

 _It is recommended that a wizard who seeks to use elemental magic as their primary type should stay firmly in one element, as learning others may cause drastic complications to learning the first, unless a wizard has a natural affinity for multiple elements, which unfortunately cannot be tested safely._

I blinked in surprise at the passage. I didn't remember reading anything of the sort before. Perhaps I'd merely missed it, but that seemed like a very important detail to have glossed over for a very basic category of spells.

As strange as it was that I'd not noticed it, it certainly offered a new perspective on how I could use multiple opposing elements, even though Erza had said it was impossible. Was this kind of thing common knowledge? I couldn't help but wonder.

Had I really been just lucky enough to have an affinity for so many elements? That struck me as highly improbable. Fire, water, air, earth, lightning, metal, nature, _and_ space? Yeah, not likely that I had eight equally balanced personality traits. I knew myself, and that just wasn't it.

The only magic I'd learned before moving onto elemental magic was Illusion, the most basic of all basics, hardly costing any magical energy at all. I couldn't see that being tied into any element, except perhaps light, so no parent magic was involved. I was still as impossible as always, it seemed.

I looked for further information regarding elemental magic, but the Compendium only went on to explain the different properties of each element and never touched on the issue again. I did take a look at the element-aspect chart on page 1,643.

From what it suggested, I seemed to have a natural inclination for Water, Darkness, Ice, and Nature, at varying degrees. On that account, I was naturally inclined against Fire, Lightning, Air, and Metal, among others. Right, so that definitely wasn't it.

Heavily disappointed, I leafed through the pages until another topic caught my interest— _Infernal Wrath Magic_ , it was called, and if ever there was a more badass name for a magic.

We had another four long hours of traveling until our arrival at Felicity Town. I wouldn't be surprised if I managed to get through a good portion of the Compendium by the time we did eventually get there. It really was full of such fascinating information; there was always more to learn from it.

I spent a good few hours locked away in that strange dimension where you go when you're stuck in a book, but it left me with a steadily growing itch to actually practice some magic, which could not be done in the vehicle. Generate an energy field that would radiate pure unadulterated essence of Hell? Yes, please!

Perhaps this job would give me some opportunities to release some strong magic, hopefully without getting sneak-attacked by a furry maniac with a giant sword. But according to Mira, there was a high chance that there would be nothing S-class about the mission at all, but that the existence of unknown Black Magic had warranted some caution. Thus, the mission went from A-class to SS-class.

That certainly explained why they'd thought to bring me on this particular mission, even though it was ranked higher than a normal S-class one and I was still only a very high A-rank in their eyes. They were doing it for my sake. How sweet of them.

I knew now that the mission would most likely be nowhere near as exciting as it had originally sounded, but when I had learned, I figured that I'd at least get to go on a SS-class mission _with permission_. Which I could then rub in everyone's smug little faces. My earlier stunt at the guild and the following cleanup duty had only done so much, after all.

"—ing there in just a few minutes."

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and brought myself back into the present.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought; could you please repeat that?" I said.

"We'll be arriving at Felicity Town in just a few minutes." said Mira. "Our first stop is at the Town Hall."

"Oh, good," I said, letting out a long yawn. "We've been in this car far too long."

"...what's a car?" said Erza and Mira simultaneously.

/

The town of Felicity was not what I had been expecting. It was split into two halves by a wide river, with a single wooden bridge spanning the gap in an arc. On one half, the town was lively and modern, with paved roads, ordinary buildings, and streetlights.

On the other half, the town was oriental, with buildings made mostly of wood and roofs that curved upwards at the edges. The streets were unpaved and few people could be seen just walking about. There was a temple of some kind as well, its generous grounds taking up a large portion of the area.

But that wasn't what bothered me about it at all.

"There's something wrong with this place." I said edgily.

"How do you mean?" said Erza, looking ready to draw her sword at a moment's notice.

"There's some kind of... aura, I guess you could call it, all around the area." I explained cautiously. "Maybe it's that Black Magic residue you mentioned, but whatever it is, it's bad news; you can be sure of that."

"We'll have to keep our guard up." said the Requip mage.

"Definitely." agreed Mira, a bit darkly. "I can feel a faint kind of darkness here as well. It resonates with my Satan Soul, like it's come home. I think it would be best to think of everything native to this place a potential enemy, at least for now."

Those were some harsh words, coming from Mira. But then I supposed that she _was_ an S-class mage, and the whole demonic Take-Over probably made her intrinsically meaner than one would originally think just from meeting her.

In such a case, though, I'd have to agree with her wholeheartedly. I'd felt this kind of presence before on a far smaller scale from the strongest monsters in my old forest, the ones that were dark by nature.

But if a Phantasmal Devourer (trust me, you're better off not knowing) was only able to barely produce such an aura, what on earth could make something as powerful as this? I was beginning to think the SS-rank was an underestimation and not over-preparedness.

It was more than enough to set me on edge, practically clawing at my sense of self-preservation and screaming at me to run away or I would die. From what I could tell, the people of the town weren't entirely immune to it either, from their skittish comportment and the constant lowering of their heads.

"Let's get to this Town Hall as soon as possible." I said. "I don't want to spend more time in this place than I have to."

"Very well," said Erza. She didn't seem to perceive the aura any more than the townspeople but took our word for it. Interesting...

It was no trouble at all to find the place. It was slap bang in the center of town, and it was a great deal larger than any of the buildings around it, grandiose even by Town Hall standards. It looked more like a cathedral of white marble than anything else. But there was no mistaking our directions, and they said that this was the place.

The inside of the building was no less ostentatious, with floors covered in decorative tiles and thick, ornamented pillars rising up from the ground every ten feet or so. The place was filled haphazardly with desks and paper-pushers, ruining a great deal of its extravagance.

The mayor himself had his own private office away from the rest of the bureaucrats, which we were escorted to by no less than four 'highly valued' secretaries. This seemed overly complex and just too large for the governing of a single town. Something to keep in mind, I supposed.

The mayor of Felicity town (whose name I had not concerned myself with remembering) was a short, portly man with a _very_ large office and an even larger ego. He legitimately believed that a group of terrorists from a rival nation were trying to sow fear into the country by 'striking at one of its most important cities.' Yeah, even Magnolia Town was probably more 'important' to Fiore than this place. It didn't even have its own guild!

As such, I left all of the talking to Mira, who somehow didn't lose her loving smile at all throughout the entirety of the conversation and always remained perfectly courteous. Forget Erza, that woman had a mind of steel.

"So what now?" I said, picking at a loose thread on my coat.

"Now we investigate the town." said Erza, though I had aimed the question at Mira. "Surely there must be some indication of what is causing all of these things to happen. From there, if we find no leads, we'll move into the surrounding lands."

"You're the boss." I replied, shooting her a lazy, two-fingered salute.

"Excuse me, Sir, but would you mind answering a few questions?"

Ah, it seemed Mira had already begun.

"No. Now leave me be; I've done nothing wrong." he said abruptly, pushing his way past her.

The result was much the same with the next seven people we tried, though they did seem a bit less harsh when I approached them with my innocent child facade. Even still, none were willing to offer help of any kind, quickly hurrying away.

Erza suggested that it may have been due to the disappearances, but I felt it was more likely a side effect of that pressing aura. A few weeks surrounded by that, and I wouldn't be offering any kind of help either.

So we eventually moved into the woodlands nearby, as per the plan. We did come across a few animals that had been gored to death, but I'd seen worse. Hell, I'd _done_ worse. What really caught my attention was the twenty foot tall wyvern corpse bleeding out into the ground. It was clearly dead, but the attack looked recent.

Without hesitation, I rushed forward to scan the body for traces of magic, kneeling on the forest floor next to it. What I found was unsettling, to the say the least. Whatever had done this was definitely a branch of The Black Arts if I'd ever seen one.

But there was something else here as well, something other than Black Magic. I'd felt it before, from forest vulcans, though it hadn't been nearly as sinister as this. But there was no doubt about it, this was...

"Soul magic," I said, rising to my feet. "This was soul magic, tied into the Black Arts— I'm certain of it now. Whatever caused this is also the same thing creating that dark presence I told you about earlier. I'm honestly at a bit of a loss here."

"Soul magic?" echoed Mira. "What could soul magic have to do with this?" Come to think of it, she also used Take Over Magic as well, didn't she?

"Its body isn't the only thing that's been mutilated. The wounds go deeper than that." I explained. "Killing a body is one thing, but this thing is destroying souls."

"Destroying souls?" said Erza. "I must admit this is not my area of expertise, but that sounds _very_ sinister."

"It's not really mine either." I said, huffing out a brief sigh. "Do you know anything about this, Mira? You are the Take Over Mage, after all."

"I don't think I can help you here." she said, eying the wyvern with a strange mixture of intense and definitely negative emotions that I couldn't identify. "It isn't practical to go around doing this kind of thing. Theoretically, souls _can_ be altered, but the amount of energy needed to actually destroy even one soul would be enough to power the Etherion Cannon for years. Are you sure it's actually been destroyed?"

"Definitely." I answered. "I can't say I've ever encountered something like this before, but I've been building up my innate magic sensing ever since I started learning magic in the first place."

"That makes this more serious than I originally thought." said Mira. "We'll need to call in some heavy backup for this."

"Agreed." I said. "I was doubtful before, but now I don't think that this foreboding presence is the side effect of some dark ritual. It could possibly be from sheer magical power."

I didn't know very many things with enough power to do something like that without exerting strenuous effort for it, but those few I did certainly added no help to my confidence. A dragon? A high demon? Was Acnologia himself hiding nearby?

"I certainly hope you're wrong." said Mira. "An effect like this from raw magical power would mean that the source is..."

"Yeah, so insanely strong that we would have to bring Gildarts here to have even a fighting chance." I replied. "I might be wrong, though. The two events are clearly related, but it might be that some new ritual has been invented which can destroy souls without using as much energy, which would also explain the aura. Magic that dark has an effect on the world around it."

"Either way, we must contact the master at the nearest opportunity." said Erza. "Perhaps the Council as well. This is far more serious than some random illegal activity."

"Yes," I agreed. "This goes far beyond the mission description."

/

It was nighttime now, later than I should reasonably have stayed awake in this body, but I wanted to observe the town at night for any changes. All sorts of magic could change during 'auspicious times,' and night was especially known to strengthen the power of Black Magic.

The aura did become a bit thicker, but otherwise there was nothing else of note. The streets were completely vacant, though this was hardly surprising. Nobody wanted to be out at night with this kind of subtle darkness pressing down on them.

Sitting on the roof of the inn where we'd tentatively been allowed to stay, I kept watch over the area despite it all. There was a nice cool breeze on the air, but nothing about the situation was relaxing. I doubt I would've gotten much sleep with the overbearing pressure grinding down on my magic sense.

There! Something was moving, a small silhouette leaving from one of the houses on the modern side of the town. Someone leaving in the middle of the night when the street was empty? Right, that wasn't suspicious...

Without any real casual grace, and an air of rush about me, I slid down and slipped into a window on the second floor. Mira and Erza were both fast asleep, lying peacefully on their cots. Gently, I woke them both and told them of my findings. Their sleepiness seemed to die very quickly after that.

Silently, the three of us crept out through the same window. We were all acrobatic enough that it made no trouble for us. It took a few moments, but Erza eventually spotted the figure a block and a half away. With a quiet agreement, we made to follow them.

Though it would have made me feel like a ninja (always a bonus), we did not hop from rooftop to rooftop, as often as such a depiction was in anime. Instead, we tailed them from a few meters away under an invisibility illusion, courtesy of yours truly. Perhaps it was less exciting, but definitely far more practical.

It was impossible to tell much about our mystery suspect, what with the heavy, black cloak hiding everything but their height. Whether they were male or female, what their build was, I couldn't see anything. What I could tell as that this person was a man on a mission. The purpose in their step was unmistakable.

Which brought up the question of what exactly this person was planning to do so late at night. If I had thought it was suspicious before, I was now sure that they were involved with the disappearances and animal carcasses, at least in some way.

I was surprised to note that the mysterious suspect's destination was outside of the town entirely. Wherever they were going, they wasted no time in taking the shortest route to the outside. Specifically, they were headed towards the mountains on the east side of the town, a good few miles away. But they never seemed to grow tired. Then again, neither did we.

There was a subtle tug on my brain that alerted me to something wrong. It was barely noticeable, and the change was very gradual, but there was no mistaking that the 'aura' was becoming steadily thicker. We were growing closer to the source.

It was not far from the mountains when the first bit of adrenaline started to pump through my veins. There were others here— four of them, as far as I could tell. They were hidden in the surroundings, crouching behind a boulder or back pressed up against a tree, but there was mo mistaking it.

"I know you're there."

It was our suspect. The voice was gruff, certainly male, probably of an age older than forty. Apparently he could sense them as well.

"Well, well, it looks like you've ruined out surprise." called a mocking voice. He seemed a bit young, perhaps a teenager?

The four unknowns emerged from their hiding places, clad in strange attire that had me wondering if they actually knew what they were wearing. Most of their bodies were covered in what looked like black, priestly robes. White masks concealed their features, decorated with red ink in a manner that looked eerily like tribal war paint.

"You know why I am here." said the cloaked man, his stance shifting to become hostile. "And I know what you have done."

"Oh, that's right." mocked one of the other robed ones, this time a female. "We took something _super_ precious of yours, right?"

"What have you done with my son?!" bellowed the man, something of an aura beginning to form around him, a faint sheen of glowing blue. A mage?

"Oh, didn't you say you already knew what we were doing?" asked one of the other robed figures, holding his chin as though in deep contemplation. "Unless, of course, you were just giving a bluff to make yourself look stronger than you are?"

I could practically hear the man gritting his teeth before he surged forward, faster than a normal human. A sapphire hued ball of light materialized in his right hand, a spell of some kind. I didn't recognize the magic.

"Twilight Nebula!"

To be fair, by normal standards, the spell wasn't too shabby. By the standards of the Fairy Tail main cast, well, even Lucy would probably beat him without breaking much of a sweat. The other four seemed to be mages too, as the erected some kind of magical barrier spell. It was one that I didn't recognize, and I could actually _use_ barrier magic.

They didn't stop there, however, each launching a simultaneous counterattack. From what I could tell, all four were utilizing the same type of magic, which was odd in itself because (unsurprisingly) I didn't recognize it. Therefore, it wasn't any of the really common magics. Strange...

The man, though outnumbered, was far from finished. The battle continued for several minutes, the four casting spells that seemed tied to Darkness Magic and the lone man fighting back with his own strange branch of magic.

But it was not difficult to see the outcome. Our suspect was beginning to fatigue, which his enemies showed no signs of. He probably had less than a minute until he'd be at their mercy. Oh, and there it was— some kind of shadowy blade about to cleave his head in two, too quickly for him to dodge or block.

A sudden whoosh passed through the air, and silence descended for a few long moments. A blade had cut through the spell and was now poised at the caster's throat, gleaming in the moonlight.

"There are some questions that you are going to answer." said Erza Scarlet, a promise of wrath riding on her tone.

 **(A/N): So yeah, not so much "HIYAAHH! TASTE MY FURY!" in this one, sorry, but the chapter is already about as long as I allow myself to go for a single chapter. You'll just have to wait until next weekend for the action to start. My humble apologies.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Search for the Enemy; Attack of the Ninja-Wizards!

What next occurred was something I could say with decent certainty that none of us were expecting. No sooner had Erza's last word dripped off her tongue than all four of the strange, robed men vanished into the air.

Disturbingly, their robes and masks had been left behind, billowing to the floor, completely empty. It was a neat trick, a bit Obi-Wan Kenobi of them. Obviously, _some_ magic had been involved—I could even sense a tiny trace of it—but (and I was beginning to tire of saying this) it was one I couldn't say I recognized.

Cautiously, Erza lowered her sword, eyes sweeping our surroundings.

Perhaps they'd teleported a short distance away? But then why leave the clothes? Teleportation Magic already existed with the ability to transport anything touching the caster along with them, so it was hardly a revolutionary feat. What on earth had happened to them?

"Strange," I said, humming in thought.

"W-who are you all?"

Ah, that's right, we still had our suspect. Although, I doubted he could be called as such anymore. Those four, if I had to guess, were at least a part of the impetus for all the strange happenings here, even if only a small part. He, on the other hand, was quite clearly opposed to them.

"Calm down, Mister," I said. "We're not here to do you harm."

"We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild," said Mira, shooting a winning smile. He seemed to ease up a fraction.

"...Well, I guess if you're no friend of theirs, I can consider you friends of mine," he said finally. "My name is Ezekiel Lundborg."

"Erza Scarlet."

"Mirajane Strauss."

"Brian, of the most ancient and noble house of—" I was cut off by a greave slamming into my head from above. "Ah, fine, ruin my fun, Erza."

"We've been hired by the Magic Council to investigate the strange occurrences here, and to eliminate any illegal threats we find," said Erza authoritatively. "Do you know any information about what might be causing these events?"

"Mages from the Council, huh?" said Ezekiel. "'Bout time they sent someone along. But I don't know how much good your merry little trio can do against folk like them."

"Nonetheless, please give us all information you have regarding the issue," she replied.

"Alright, alright," said Ezekiel, letting out a raspy sigh. "I'll tell you what I know, but I say, it isn't much. There's this big group of people in the mountains, never even heard of them before now. But apparently they've been there for a while. All of them are mages, but I can't remember what they call themselves— something about about following a king?"

"You said something to those four about your son," I said. "If I may intrude, what exactly was that about?"

"Yes, that's right," he said, looking pained. "They took Rodney, my precious boy. I don't know why they did it, but I intend to see him back home." There was a glint of steel in his eyes, and in his tone.

"Dark ritual..." I murmured.

"What was that?" said Erza.

"My initial theory might be correct after all," I said. "I don't pretend to be an expert in these kind of things, but kidnapping a bunch of people with no seeming reason is the kind of thing that reeks of ritual sacrifice, I think."

"That's true," said Erza darkly. Of course, she would know, wouldn't she?

"Do you think we're dealing with a Zeref cult?" I asked, a bit hesitantly. "Lundborg-san did say their name has something to do with a king..."

"It is a possibility that is not to be discounted," she said finally.

"We should go into the situation expecting anything," said Mira. "Maybe they're a Zeref cult or maybe not, but we should be prepared regardless."

"I agree," I said.

"I tell you, I don't think kids like you should be going after those kind of people, Council or otherwise," said Ezekiel. "That was just four of them right now. There are hundreds of them, maybe even a few thousand. I don't know the exact number, but it's too many for you to take on alone."

"Don't worry, we sent a message for backup," said Mira. "Master said that they'd be here in a day or so, as many as he can send."

"I guess there's just no stopping you, is there?" said Ezekiel, breathing out a long sigh. "If you have to chase after them, I'll tell you this: Search the mountains. They're probably hiding in one of the ancient tribal cave systems there."

"Thank you for your information, Lundborg-san," said Erza, dipping her head.

"This is great and all," I interjected. "but is no one else the least bit concerned by the disappearing act from our friendly neighborhood psychos?"

"It's not that uncommon," said Mira. "That looked like some kind of Recall Magic. Someone must have pulled them back when they realized we had them. It is a bit odd that their clothes are still here, though. Teleportation magic that carries clothing alongside the caster has been around for centuries."

"That's what I was thinking," I said. "Why use a Teleport spell that leaves evidence lying around like this?"

A few moments of quiet settled over the past landscape as we all turned to our own thoughts.

"I'd like to say that it doesn't matter much," I began, heaving a sigh, "but I don't want this detail to come back to bite us because we just dismiss it."

"Just because something doesn't seem important or dangerous doesn't mean that it isn't," agreed Erza.

"Unfortunately, there's not much we can do but speculate now," said Mira. "And if what Lundborg-san said was true, then our first priority should be to find the location where this unknown group gathers."

"I suppose you're right," I said. "That, at least, we should be able to manage without waiting for our comrades to arrive. God only knows how critical the situation truly is."

"Do pardon my interruption," said Ezekiel. "but I think you should hold off until morning, at least. I came at night so that it would garner no attention from the others in town, but the night gives them strength. It would be better for you, I think, to strike at day."

"Hmm, if there truly are thousands of them, then that may not be a bad idea..." I said, humming in thought.

"Let's get you back to the town, Ezekiel-san," said Mira, speaking up. "I promise we'll do everything we can to get your son back."

There was a brief moment in which a struggle of some kind flashed in Ezekiel's eyes, but it only lasted a second. With a hesitant nod, he gave his assent.

The travel back was nearly silent. All of us were tired, and none of us wanted to continue until the morning. So it was with a certain weariness in my muscles, the kind that can only be felt in the body of a small child, that I did finally drift off to sleep in the springy cot of our hotel.

My dreams were restless.

/

The call of morning was strong, but the dark haze of sleep was stronger. Unfortunately, both were heavily outmatched by the strength of Erza's fists, which came to greet me at the ungodly hour of six thirty. At least, it felt like six thirty— there were no clocks here.

"Oww, Fu— don't _do_ that, Erza!" I said, throwing off my covers. "I went through all the trouble of waking you and Mira up gently, and this is how I'm repaid? You know, where I come from, if someone woke up a little kid like that, they'd be arrested for child abuse!"

A weighty realization dawned in the requip mage's eyes, and I knew that I'd made a mistake.

"You're right!" she cried. "My nearsightedness has made me foolishly act so harshly with a child! This is inexcusable— please hit me now!"

"Damnit, Erza, I'm not going to hit you!" I said, rubbing the shallow bump forming on my scalp. "Just— just go to your room, or something."

Unfortunately, this only seemed to upset her further, and she harshly berated herself all the way to the door. People could publish books about that woman's psychology, I swear...

But regardless, I was now awake, if disgruntled, and it was time to seize the day. Or rather, it was time to scour the mountains for any suspicious cave systems, possibly stained red with virgin blood. It honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point.

But before that came the routine: shower, dress yourself, have a quick breakfast. Well, with Erza's oddly potent sweet tooth, it was more of an hour long breakfast. And that was after I had cut it short, too!

However, midmorning saw us among the Asakku mountains, surprisingly with Ezekiel in tow. It would seem he did not wish to be left out of our impromptu mission. He was dead useful, I will admit, having half the land mapped out in his head.

"This is it for Mt. Malus," said Ezekiel. "If there's a hideout, it's definitely not here. Maybe we'll have better luck at Mt. Hecatomb."

"Say, Ezekiel-san, have I ever mentioned that all of the mountains here have _really_ ominous names?" I said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think our next one would be Mt. Doom or Devil's Peak, or something."

"Hmm, yes, that's true," said Ezekiel. "The ancient tribes that lived here believed that each mountain had a demon sealed inside of them. As a result, none of them sound very accommodating even in this day."

"Hmm, sealed a demon..." I said. "With my luck, it'll turn out to be true, just you wait. Then we'll have an army of demons after us."

I ignored the two comments regarding how small children have big imaginations. It wasn't untrue, even though it certainly seemed quite off topic, since there were no small children in the vicinity, after all. _None_. _At_. _All_.

"So, not to sound ungrateful for your help or anything," I said, "but do you actually know what it is that we've been looking for?"

"All the entrances were hidden to prevent invasion, but they were hidden _distinctly_ ," said Ezekiel. "The Shamti-derehk covered their entrances with blocks of ice, for instance. But all of the tribes put small marks near these places so that friendly tribes could find them. Most of their symbols look ordinary, like a crack in the stone that's shaped a certain way. You have to look closely."

"Right..." I said dubiously. Was this guy some kind of archeologist or something? "Assuming that's true, is there really any point in us coming along for this?"

"You're the ones that are so convinced you have to fight these folk," said Ezekiel, shrugging. "There's not much you can really do to help find them, unless you have a strong divination spell handy."

My thoughts briefly turned to Cana, but I shook her image from my head. _Knowing_ someone who could use divination spells wasn't going to help anything.

A spike of magical energy from my left and behind me was my only warning. I dropped to the ground, a knife sailing over me. It clattered to the rough, stone floor uselessly. I spun around and erected a simple Barrier spell. It was essentially just a disk of blue energy, and not terribly sturdy, but it blocked the three following knives.

There were five enemies—no, six! They were hiding behind clumps of rocks and large boulders. These magical signatures felt... different somehow, like they were trying to avoid being detected. I had to focus intently to stop myself from glossing over and dismissing them even though I knew they were there.

A quick glance at Erza and Mira revealed that they were fine, though Mira had a small cut on her cheek. Ezekiel had a knife stuck through his arm, however, and it didn't seem to be doing him any favors. That decided it; these bastards had to go.

"Material Severance: Gap," I said, making a slashing motion towards a few strategically placed boulders. The bottoms of them suddenly detached from the ground and came rampaging down the mountain. If I had this right, it would be landing where three of them—

A few black blurs leapt out of the path of my rockslide, landing among other hiding places. Damn, these guys were faster than I'd thought! I wasn't going to land a hit on them with a projectile from a distance.

Unfortunately, before I could think up another plan of attack, more knives came raining down. No longer caught by surprise, I noticed a dark sheen surrounding the blades, as though the metal was absorbing light instead of reflecting it. I summoned another barrier, this time one less basic.

"Evil Explosion!" A ball of spinning death was launched at one of the enemies, but they unfortunately dodged it with the same swiftness. In any other situation, I would have laughed at how corny that attack sounded without the thick Japanese accent to distort the words.

"Wood Make: Rune Formation 1!" I said, molding the magic into its proper form, carving runes into it, and then shoving as much magical energy as I could into it.

The aerodynamic wooden spikes sped through the air like a barrage of arrows. It did not take long for the runes to take effect. Rule Number One of Alkashi Runes: the tiniest fault in structure will result in a big, fat explosion.

 _BOOM!_

And _damn_ was it satisfying to hear. Rocky shrapnel was flung into the air everywhere. I frowned. Where were the enemies? Could that really have taken them out? Perhaps they only had speed going for them...

I suddenly found a blade racing towards my face, just a few feet away. I wasn't fast enough to dodge this one, I realized with a cold, sinking feeling. A metallic clang reverberated through the air as the knife fell to the ground. Another blade had intercepted it.

"Thanks, Erza," I said, eying her in relief. She gave a tight nod before charging off to fight. Shaking my head, I told myself to snap out of it and followed in her steps.

This time, when more blades came flying at me, I made a space-time barrier with Severance Magic. The blades were held in the distortion, still carrying their inertia, but unable to move. When I had accumulated enough, I flipped the barrier backwards and released it. All of the knives flew outwards at the same time like shrapnel.

It forced the enemies out of hiding, and I caught sight of them in greater detail. They were unsurprisingly clad entirely in black. But unlike the previous four I'd seen, their attire was more practical, a bit like that of a ninja. I couldn't even see their eyes, though.

"Dark Make: Lance."

I dodged a shadowy pike and sprinted toward the caster. It was time to get a bit more serious about this; these weren't just small fry like the previous four were. I surrounded myself with a familiar layer of Wind Magic. But that wasn't enough— I added Lightning Magic and Water Magic to it as well.

"Storm Drive," I said.

I hadn't used this in weeks, and I was already starting to feel that familiar exhilaration coursing through me.

This time, as I chased after the enemy, he was not faster than I was. I caught up to him and delivered a fist full of lightning to the back of his head. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Turning back, I picked another target to chase after.

Erza had shifted into her Flight Armor, and seemed to be taking out a few of these 'ninja's herself with relative ease. Mira wasn't in her Satan Soul form anymore, though, instead opting to sit beside Ezekiel and tend to his wounds.

Within less than minute, the battle was over. They certainly weren't enemies to toy around with carelessly, but they also weren't terribly strong in the end. In other words, these were my least favorite kind of opponents. On the bright side, they didn't suddenly vanish from within their clothes.

"Are you alright, Ezekiel-san?" I said, crouching down next to him. He tried to sit up, but a firm hand from Mira set him back down.

"Tch, I'll be fine with a bit of rest," he said, though I had my doubts. "Damn those sneaky bastards..."

"This means we're getting closer," said Erza, still standing. "Our enemy has sent agents after us, so we must be getting too close to their base of operations for comfort."

"That would make sense," I agreed. "The problem is: how close are we, and in what direction is it from here?"

"Brian, you said that you felt a strange aura over the town earlier," said Erza, "and that it was getting stronger as we got closer to the source. Is it possible you could try to sense where that aura is the strongest?"

"Oh, yeah!" I said. "Why didn't I think of..."

"Um, Brian, are you alright?" said Mira tentatively.

"It's gone." I whispered. "How the hell did I not notice something like that? The entire aura's completely gone!"

"What do you mean?" said Erza.

"I mean it's just _gone_ ," I repeated. "Hold on, just give me a minute."

I extended my senses outward, trying to get a feel for the magic around me. Spending fifteen years completely isolated from magic gives you a special sensitivity for it, it would seem. Where was that menacing aura?

I stretched my senses out even further, and found... tubes? Yes, there were underground mana tubes, carrying Black Magic through them. Further... Further... _There_! It was a magic barrier, a very subtle one. It prevented the passing of certain types of magic through it. In other words, Black Magic was being pumped out of the area and kept from leaking back in with a barrier. So that meant...

"We're already here." I said. "I've found the source of the Black Magic. They're pumping it out, so the aura can't even be felt in here, but we're standing right on top of them."

"Right on top of them?" echoed Erza. "But then how do we get in?"

A rumble sounded from the earth, shaking the ground. I encased myself in another Storm Drive, preparing for another attack. A small crevice in the ground began to widen, spewing out bits of rock and sending up clouds of dust. When the shaking ceased and the dust settled, there was a clear stairway leading down below.

"...what was that?" said Mira, squinting at the open staircase.

"If I had to hazard I guess," I said, my eyes narrowing, "I'd say someone down there likes us."

For a few eternal moments, we all stared impassively at the foreboding entrance. Our thoughts were all aligned: do we go down, or run the hell away?

"So," I said, "who else thinks this thing probably leads directly to the dungeons, where it will then close behind us?"

/

As it turned out, the winding stairway did not lead to any dungeons. Or, at the very least, I had trouble imagining anything like _this_ being used as a dungeon. It was, for lack of a better term, fucking gigantic. I cannot possibly describe the sheer size of the cavern in a way you could truly appreciate. I'm fairly certain the entire forest where I'd used to live could comfortably fit inside here, though.

Out of principle, I casted the most overpowered _Lumen_ I could muster and sent it flying above us. And I _still_ couldn't see the entire space! But what I did see...

Ezekiel wasn't wrong, there were definitely a few thousand of these guys. They were all in the middle of some horrendous ritual, surrounding a magic circle with something moving in the center of it. Surprisingly, none of them seemed to notice the giant ball of light floating a few hundred meters away.

"This magical energy..." said Erza, in awe despite herself.

"Oh, you can sense it now, can you?" I said. I could feel too, more being created even as it was all pumped out as quickly as possible.

"This— this is definitely something beyond us," said Mira, shocked.

Yeah, this thing would have no problem powering Etherion for a while. Was this the kind of power thousands of people could make if they all channeled it at once? And something about that thing moving in the center... I wanted to squirm just watching it from a distance.

"We need to go in there," I said firmly.

"Brian, are you _insane_?" hissed Mira, losing her charm completely.

"Listen, whatever's going on down there, we have to stop it," I said. "The kinds of foul things that are needed to make this kind of magical energy... I don't want to talk about it. It's a crime against all life in the universe."

"Brian, listen to me," said Erza. "I understand. But now is not the time to be going into the situation haphazardly. We've found their location, and now we need to head back and wait for our comrades to come. Don't forget that Ezekiel is all alone up there right now, either."

"But—" I said, then paused. I traced a hand down my coat, feeling the scar under it tingle unpleasantly. I was reminded of a blade slicing painfully through my torso, and I grimaced. "...Alright, you're right. We should go now."

The stairway behind us was instantly barred shut by a thick wall of stone, crashing down with a mighty thud. I threw a quick bolt of lightning at it as soon as I realized what was happening, but a network of runes lit up with an eerie green light on the stonework, and the wall was left unharmed.

"I told you so," I said.

And then, because that obviously hadn't been ominous enough, a shadow rose up from the magic circle in the middle of the ritual and began to crawl across the roof of the cavern like some hideous specter.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

 **(A/N): I tried to put action in here. Really, I did. At this point, I'm just going to stop making promises. Maybe it'll work better that way.**


	10. Chapter 10

**So, yeah, here this is, a week and a half late. Sorry about that, I just... put down— Put down the pitchforks! It was an accident, I swear!**

 **So, yeah, I contracted writer's block, and then I got very sick. And then once I got better, I _still_ had writer's block. As a result, the chapter is a bit rushed and unpolished. I'll get to fixing it at some point. Probably. But I thought that you'd waited long enough for it already, so enjoy!**

Chapter Ten: The Adherents of the Revenant King

"Woah~" came another voice, carrying a tone of light reverence. "You really beat the Starlight Scripture all on your own— so cool! They're totally the strongest unit of the entire sect, you know?"

There were three of them in total, complete with the familiar priestly robe attire. Their features weren't masked, though. Two of them were female, with one male situated to the left of them.

"Who are you?!" demanded Erza, raising her sword as a discernible aura kicked up a wind around her. Talk about a strong presence.

"Gyohohoho, don't you know?" said the male. "And we went to all the trouble of inviting you in, too!"

"I get the strangest sense that I'm going to regret asking this," I said, "but you wouldn't happen to be the villainous people in charge of this whole operation, would you?"

"We are all at the behest of his Majesty." said the middle female. "Everything must be done for the sake of—"

"—Zeref-sama?" I interrupted. "And I thought Grimoire Heart was fanatic about the guy, but _damn_."

"...who?" said the woman. "Am I supposed to recognize the name of someone as unimportant as your 'Zeref'?"

There was a brief silence.

"You mean you're not a Zeref cult?" I said. "More than that, you don't even recognize his name? Have you been living under a rock for... Oh, right, you kind of have been. I guess that just makes you a normal cult, then. Don't worry, you're still plenty creepy."

"Hey, that's mean!" said the other woman, pouting heavily. She was far younger, perhaps even younger than Erza and Mira. "We invited you in, even let you witness our Soul Call, and you still—"

" _That is enough, Valerie._ " admonished the first woman harshly. Her voice seemed to echo eerily throughout the cavern.

"Ah-ahhh, my apologies, High Priestess-sama!" said 'Valerie,' abashed.

"Steel Make: Quicksilver Phantom." I said, forming the magic appropriately around me. A liquid metal blob emerged from the air, something vaguely resembling a mouth afixed to one end. "We don't have time for idle chatter. If you're going to fight us, do so now. If not, let us pass."

"Oh, straight to the business, huh?" said the robed man. "Gyohohohohohoho!"

"Okay, one more laugh like that, and I swear one of us is going to be reduced to a bloody pulp and it ain't gonna be me," I said.

"If you're so certain you want to fight us, go right ahead," said the older woman. "I feel I should warn you, though, that the Scripture heads are a minimum of twice as strong as their collective unit."

"Oh, you mean twice as strong as those ninja-henchmen from before?" I said. "You might make me sweat a little!"

Without warning, I found a short wakizashi slicing towards my neck, in the grip of Valerie. How the hell had she moved so quickly?! Teleportation?

"That's my Scripture you're talking so dismissively about," said Valerie. "You'd better apologize quickly, or I'll definitely kill you."

Wait, hadn't she just been praising me for taking those guys down? There was something seriously wrong with this girl.

A simple mental gesture was all it took for my Steel Make creation to descend like a gelatinous goop over my assailant. With a surprisingly girly shriek, she dropped her weapon and leapt backwards. My Quicksilver Phantom engulfed the blade within its swirling mass, dissolving it into base materials and absorbing the metal.

"Years of isolation in a forest has caused me to develop conversational dysfunction, so I am incapable of apology," I deadpanned. "Thank you for the sword, though. It was delicious."

"You're so creepy!" she complained. "Why can't you be like the normal people and just plead and beg, _mou_!"

I coated myself in a layer of Lightning Magic, more a defensive measure against further close combat than anything else. Something about this entire situation was tickling at the back of my mind, setting me on edge. There was something wrong with it all, but Ijust couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was.

"Allow me to rephrase my earlier proclamation," I said. "Please get out of our way within the next ten seconds, or I will begin to attack you without restraint."

There was a moment of calm.

It was the older woman who attacked first, crouching as her hands fell into a familiar position, clasped together by her side. I often used the same form myself for two certain magics, though hers had much fewer flaws than my own.

"Night Make: Field of Thorns," she said airily. I'll admit, out of all the forms of Molding Magic, I certainly hadn't expected that. Could something as vague as 'night' even be considered a proper element anyway?

Apparently so, if the way pitch black spikes rose from the earth in rapid succession was anything to go by. And then, as though a switch had been turned on, the Night Make creation suddenly lit up with tiny white pinpricks of light. Stars and nebulae swirled through the darkness, drawing my rapture at the resplendence of it.

But only for a moment or so. As the pikes continued to jut up from the ground at an ever increasing rate, all three of us took to the air. Erza requipped into her Black Wing Armor, Mira morphed into her usual battle form, and I shifted from Lightning Magic to a full Storm Drive. We all hovered in the air and prepared our various counterattacks.

From Erza, it was a rain of steel. From Mira, it was some dark-themed spell I couldn't name. As for me, I sent my magic into assuring us a defense— in the most irritating manner possible.

"World Severance: Blender," I said.

I know, I know, naming that one hadn't been one of my brighter moments, but it just seemed to fit.

The original idea behind World Severance was to send tiny blades of specialized magic to disrupt intangible things, such as spacetime, instead of just slicing through objects. By using a thin but wide blade, I could form a barrier. By using a small spike, I could draw lines in the fabric of the universe. By throwing hundreds of haphazardly formed blades out as quickly as possible, I could turn the entire terrain into a confusing mess of distorted space.

It was as much a disadvantage for my comrades as it was for the enemy, but I could sense each blade of magic, and thus knew which areas to avoid. Many of Erza's swords were frozen in midair, ruining the effect of her barrage. Mira's spell still hit true, though.

"Sorry, guys," I said, realizing my error a bit too late. "I may have accidentally distorted all of space and time around us beyond any hope of recognition."

"What?!" said Erza, but our conversation was cut off by a strand of dazzling Night Make Magic trying to whip at me. I dodged, flinging myself to the right.

"Steel Make: Chain Link," I said, letting the magic flow. An array of gleaming, silver chains stretched from one side of the cavern to the other.

Our three foes seemed to be using the veritable forest of spikes below to their advantage, hiding from our vision. But hopefully, this spell would help to draw them out. The true power of the Chain Link was in its deception. At first glance, it would be seen and dismissed as a static Steel Make creation. It was anything but.

Writhing like some sort of mad serpent, the chain was cast about in the air. In several places, it was caught in spacial distortions, making it seem as though it was attached to invisible floating hooks. This did little to interfere with the spell's purpose, though, as the iron links snaked through the maze of Night Make Magic below.

"Gate of the Flood!" I said, screaming the incantation out of principle. The spell was very energy-intensive, after all, and some release of passion was granted.

It was, technically speaking, my 'most powerful' spell in water magic, though it was far from my deadliest. Its nature was fairly basic, as I could barely put shape to that much magical power at once, but it fulfilled its purpose well enough: to create as much water as possible in the shortest amount of time.

As the name suggested, the ground became flooded with water up to shoulder height (high enough to drown me), though it was quickly dispersing in the vastness of the cavern. I had to act quickly if I wanted this to work. I sought out the nearest part of my Steel Make creation and grabbed on tightly to one of the metal links.

The thing about Steel Make magic is that it allows the caster to do more than manipulate the physical shape of the steel they create. With enough practice, it was a simple matter to change other properties as well— concentration of iron, hardness, phase of matter, ductility, luster, and _conductivity_.

Needless to say, I had manipulated that last property to the extreme end of the spectrum. With my Storm Drive still activated, electric current raced from my hand, through the chain, and into the water. I must have spent out a good third of my magical energy, but _damn_ if it hadn't been worth it.

I continued pumping electricity for as long as I could before I eventually cancelled my Storm Drive, supporting myself in the air with Flight Magic alone. The entire spell combination had taken roughly ten seconds.

In that time, Erza had called forth another barrage of weapons, floating telekinetically around her, and Mira had prepared some form of lightning spell, except that (like all of her spells) the lightning was a dark purple. Both of them seemed frozen in shock. They quickly recovered, however, each flying beside my panting form.

"Take that, ya bastards," I said, my hands on my knees.

"Brian!" said Erza, worry lacing her tone. "What on earth _was_ that?! What were you thinking, using such power-intensive spells one after that other?!"

"Oh, relax, I still have... a good amount of magic... left," I said, still panting. "Just... give me a minute... to recover."

Without a word, Erza grabbed me by my waist and hauled my over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I was about to show my displeasure at this, but I stopped myself from protesting. There were more important things to do here, and I really did need a minute to allow the rest of my magic energy to rise to the top of my ethernanos container. There was a price for releasing so much magic all at once, after all.

As the water cleared from the area, the three figures of our enemies could be seen standing plainly atop a platform of Night Make Magic. Well, all three were there, but they did look particularly worn, and the male one... He wasn't going to be getting up any time soon.

"Ara, ara," said the older, nameless woman who I was beginning to think was in charge of this entire operation. "That was some pretty dangerous magic, don't you think? Little boys shouldn't be playing with things like that."

Her voice seemed to echo louder than it should have in the open space.

"Beautiful women shouldn't be running secret underground cults either!" I shot back, grinning stupidly.

"Oh, High Priestess-sama, look what happened to Cillian," said Valerie disappointedly. "He's all fried up."

"Hmm, how shameful," said the 'high priestess.' "If he couldn't keep from falling to such a spell, then it must surely be his Majesty's will. Perhaps he can be of use as another sacrifice."

"Okay!" chirped Valerie, giving a cheery salute and seemingly unbothered by her comrade's demise. "Hey, does that mean I get control of his Scripture? Does it? It does, doesn't it?"

"Peace, Valerie, we will discuss it later," said the other woman, a hint of exasperation bleeding through.

That seemed to be Erza's cue to attack, as she released the full might of her second barrage. This time, she was mindful of the gaps in space from my Severance Magic, where many of her blades still hung, frozen in stasis. She was also a bit more strategic as well, instead of relying on sheer firepower.

The impact points were carefully calculated, instantly forming a circle around the edge of the platform to cut off retreat and then quickly spiraling in to form smaller and smaller circles, cornering them in open air. It would have succeeded too, if the high priestess hadn't formed a dome shield with her Night Make. When the barrage ended, she launched the shield at Erza, forcing her to dodge _with me still hanging from her shoulder_.

"Arc of Legends: Muramasa!" said Valerie, and a katana materialized in her hands. Its blade that gleamed like the eyes of a cougar stalking its prey. I shivered involuntarily at the sight of it, thinking that my magic reserves weren't recovering quickly enough to deal with something like that.

With Requip Magic, there was always a telltale flash of light and a very distinct noise. With Valerie's blade, the weapon seemed to have formed out of billions of tiny particles in the air and was eerily silent. And then there was that incantation. Without a doubt, this was one of those— a Lost Magic.

"Quench," said Valerie. Her voice implied slaughter the way a saxophone implies jazz.

There was a burst of _something_ , and a flash of hazy red. Then, Erza fell towards the ground, struck. Her armor was shattered to pieces and she was bleeding heavily from her stomach. In a quick bout of idiotic inspiration, I grabbed onto her arm and threw her up into the air with all of my might, aided by a gust of Wind Magic.

But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and I was sent racing towards the ground at a heightened velocity. Erza, having enough time to get her bearings, requipped into Heaven's Wheel and came chasing after me. I had enough time to cushion my fall with wind, but not enough to support myself with a Flight spell.

My fall was thankfully saved from being terminal, but I still landed hard and at an awkward angle. I heard a jarring _crack_ from my right ankle and had to bight my lip to keep from crying out. Damn that psycho! What the hell had she even done to Erza anyway?

"Gather the soul, repair the soul," I began, gritting my teeth. "All life that shines in the earthen depths," I waved Erza off, gesturing for her to return to the battle. "With such desperation, show me thine ill-wrought mercy. Oh Soother of Flesh, I am the bearer of the crest. Manifest in peace absolute. Raise the head and lower the feet. Gleam on, _Vitae Adflo_."

A soft glow engulfed me, and I felt myself loosen as all of my aches and pains were soothed. My ankle mended together again, but I was once again depleting my reserves. At this rate, I might actually overtax myself and have to rest for a day or two to build up more magical energy.

It only took a few seconds, but when the lambency faded, I was in pristine condition. My muscles were rested, my skin healthy, my eyes sharp. I was ready to continue.

After all of that intense magic, I'd have to focus on less intensive spells from now on, or I'd exhaust myself after a minute or so. That meant illusions, transformation, weak elemental magic, and a few other tricks. Otherwise, I just knew I'd get carried away and deplete my reserves.

Despite her wounds, Erza had flown into the fray with renewed fervor. Nothing could keep that woman down, I swear... She seemed to focus on fighting against the Valerie girl, who was still clutching that creepy samurai blade. As far as I could tell, neither held the upper hand, but then I was hardly a master swordsman.

Mira's form was different now. Instead of the usual dark purple and green scales, she was now coated in a rough layer of sky blue, and her wings were also feathered instead of bat-like. I vaguely recalled something about it being a powerful form that Makarov had forbidden her from using, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called.

" _Grand_ _Summoning: Gate of the Wilderness!_ " I yelled, projecting my voice with magic. For a split second, everyone's eyes fell on me. I fell into a horse stance, clapping my hands together in front of me as though in prayer. The more dramatic this was, the better.

Channeling a small amount of magical energy, I began to shape the light particles around me into images. Outlandish monsters began to spawn from nowhere, letting out roars that totally weren't sound waves manipulated by my own magic using Voice Enchant. Eventually, it seemed as though the area was covered in a blanket of fur and claws and tentacles, among other accessories.

But for mages of this caliber, illusions weren't going to cut it. It would distract them for maybe a few seconds before they realized what they were. I had to convince them that the monsters were real.

Thankfully, both of them would have to spend most of their attention on their opponents, so I might be able to have some sleight of hand pass their notice.

"Wood Make: Runic Formation 2," I murmured, taking care not to let the spell catch the notice of the enemy.

Out of all of my runic Wood Make creations, these were the least taxing to create. They essentially just released raw magic in the form of a semi-concentrated beam, like a magic cannon. However, to make this many of them, I would have to break this new rule about not straining myself.

With an extra bit of concentration, Molding Magic creations didn't necessarily have to be formed next to the caster, much the same way the stance didn't need to be used for simple spells. Instead, one could form the creations behind, for example, a large rock, and therefore keep it in reserve for later use.

In my case, I wanted to form these _inside_ of the illusion monsters. All of them. That was a grand total of one hundred seventy three cannons.

I felt myself fall to the ground on one knee from the strain, beads of sweat dripping down my face and neck. Nonetheless, I completed it. Each monster had a magic cannon hidden inside of it, charged for twenty five shots each.

"Now, my beasts, shoot down the enemy!" I proclaimed, pointing emphatically at the two cultists and make certain that they heard me.

As though in response to my calls, I let loose the cannon fire, opening the maws of my fake beasts to make it seem like some strange breath attack. As planned, the enemy was put on the defensive, both of them, though they were quick to counterattack.

Every time a surge of Night Make Magic smashed into a monster or a blade flew through the air at them, I let the monsters 'die.' So long as they were convinced that their attacks were actually killing off my 'summoned beasts' one by one, then they would continue to do so, wasting their own time and leaving my allies advantaged.

As it was, Erza and Mira wasted not a moment to go on the offensive. I distinctly heard the words 'Blumenblaut' and 'Soul Extinction' before various booms and crashes enveloped the cavern amidst flashes of spell fire. And throughout it all, several hundred meters away, the cult members still continued with their creepy ritual, heedless of the battle.

It seemed Erza was beginning to make ground against Valerie, who was slightly preoccupied with hurling various bladed weapons at my illusionary constructs. The Titania got in a good slash or two, leaving her opponent scrambling for defenses against both her and the magic cannons.

On the other hand, Mira didn't seem to be making much progress against the 'high priestess,' whose Night Make Magic was scarily efficient at destroying my illusion monsters. I could scarcely keep up with her pace and show them as being gored or smashed to death.

Added to that, all it took was a single shield and none of the She-Devil's hits would strike true. Not even her Soul Extinction (and believe me, it was a spell worthy of awe) had managed to break through.

"No, this isn't enough," I muttered. "But what can I do with my magic energy nearly depleted like this? Wait... do I still have—?"

Molding Magic creations would always take an amount of magic energy proportionate to the size and complexity of the structure, when the spell was cast to make them. However, when it came to Dynamic creations, the amount of energy needed to give them mental gestures and commands was so small as to be completely negligible. I currently had two such creations: the Chain Link and the Quicksilver Phantom— neither had actually been destroyed by enemy attacks.

In other words, I had two remotely controllable avatars with their own special characteristics. The Chain Link was long enough to fight at range or defend from all directions, even if broken into several pieces. The Quicksilver Phantom was a liquid-like gel, and it had a theoretically impossible acidity capable of dissolving both material substances and ethernanos particles.

With Erza seeming to fare against Valerie as well as she was, it was Mira's opponent who I needed to make a strike at. However, as soon as I struck, she would retaliate against me directly. The only things keeping me safe were that I looked too drained to fight and that they had two other foes to battle before they could deal with me.

Luckily, I had two different creations to play with. From a logical standpoint, I should use one to attack and one to defend against the counterattack. The question was: which one for which role? The Chain Link was without a doubt the more versatile one; the Quicksilver Phantom was only a blob of acidic, metal goop, and it couldn't change form too much unless I poured extra magic energy into it.

Weighing the pros and cons of each situation, I summoned the Chain Link to my side while simultaneously pulling the Quicksilver Phantom towards the High Priestess of this odd cult. Like a serpent, the chain coiled rapidly around me, forming a defensive layer. The Phantom continued to propel itself at Mira's combatant.

I hadn't expected anything else, but my Steel Make creation was repelled with a spiked shield which the enemy mage then launched as far away from herself as she could. But I only let a victorious smirk cover my features. A spiked shield? The greater the surface area, the quicker the corrosion of ethernanos. And with an element as odd as 'night,' the only explanation was that everything was made almost entirely out of raw ethernanos.

It took only a few seconds to dissolve the shield to dust, and then the Quicksilver Phantom was once again flying at the High Priestess. Mira had capitalized on the distraction and pressed her advantage, leaving her opponent unable to counter me directly. This was it!

" _Gáe Buide!_ "

The lance came rocketing towards me like a bullet. The light of my enormous illumination spell gleamed wickedly off the edge of it. I rose my Chain Link around my body for protection, but the blade sliced straight through it without so much as a loss of momentum.

For an instant that seemed to last forever, I froze. The world around me dropped into slow motion. I could feel the deadliness of the lance like a thick miasma in the air. I caught the beginnings of horror slowly being etched onto Erza's face. The blade had come from Valerie, it seemed.

A clash of steel on steel met my ears, and I came to realize that I wasn't skewered. In front of me was a familiar redhead in a cheetah print outfit, the blood red hilts of two falchions in her grip. She'd deflected the the projectile with her blades after speeding ahead in her Flight Armor.

But with such a revealing outfit, I could clearly make out the deep wounds she'd received earlier, and they did not look to be getting any better. In spite of the angry red slashes across her torso, though, I couldn't perceive any pain or weakness in her stance.

Snapping out of my haze, I exerted my control over the Chain Link and had it rise up and strike at Valerie. As strong as Erza was, there was simply no way for her to last very long with such heavy injury to herself.

Both of the severed halves aimed for two targets each— the two ends of the first half for her legs and the two ends of the second half at her wrists. Surprised, the cultist successfully slashed away the chain set upon her sword hand, but I managed to wrap my steel links around her other wrist and both of her legs. Quickly, I pulled her legs and her arm behind her back with the chains, where it was awkward to try to reach with her blade.

Erza swung one of her falchions in an arc at inhuman speeds, assisted by her armor's (I use the term loosely) unique properties. In a flash of steel, Valerie was disarmed, her katana skidding across the stone floor.

I felt her magic flare up again and knew that she was preparing to summon another weapon with her strange Lost Magic. Another mental command and her only free arm was also ensnared, effectively preventing her from wielding any weapon until such time as I saw fit to release her.

"You thrice damned _shukhat_!" raged Valerie. "I am Valerie Gabrielle Amelia of the Wiegand Clan; the blood of the ancients runs in my veins! I will not be trussed up like livestock!"

I wasn't quite sure what a 'shukhat' was, but I felt the distinct impression that it was not terribly flattering.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "You're the noble heir of whosie-whatsit, I get it. Now keep quiet while we take down the last remaining person here who can actually pose a threat."

She made one last cry of wordless outrage before Erza introduced her fist to the young woman's face. She slumped over, unconscious. Panting heavily, Erza too fell to one knee. She brushed her hand against one of her injuries and grimaced.

Then she requipped a bundle of white cloth from her private dimension and began to bandage her wounds. I would have gone over to help her with it, but I didn't know the first thing about how to properly bandage wounds, and Erza seemed perfectly capable of doing it for herself.

Instead, I turned my focus towards Mira's battle against the high priestess. Neither combatant seemed to gain the upper hand, nor did either of them appear to be running low on magic energy. Why on earth had I used all of my most intensive spells at the very beginning of the battle? Best to think on that later; the battle wasn't over yet.

" _Ressurection!_ " I called out, amplifying the sound with Voice Enchant to ensure that it caught the notice of the last remaining enemy.

Now, I manipulated my illusionary constructs to 'return to life,' sealing up wounds and reattaching limbs. I did not do this to the handful of illusion-monsters whose cannons had been destroyed, but most were still intact.

This distraction wouldn't hold up for very long, though. But while it did, I commanded the Quicksilver Phantom to also strike at her from where it lay in a pile of malformed and slightly corroded Night Make Magic.

Maybe if I overwhelmed her enough, we could get some hits past that impregnable defense of hers. At the very least, she was unable to directly retaliate against me with Mira throwing punches and spells her way every second.

It was sudden and unexpected, but the high priestess simply collapsed to the ground in a heap, her back facing the open air. Mira and I both paused for a short while, unsure of how to proceed. That hadn't been due to any of our spells, she'd just fallen to the ground out of nowhere.

A magic circle lit up with an ominous, dark purple glow on the woman's back. She began to spasm uncontrollably, strange contortions wracking her body. Fearing a self-destruction spell of some kind, Mira and I both paid heed to get as far away from her as possible.

The effect was a bit more anticlimactic than that, though. Her body simply dispersed into particles of light, leaving her robes empty on the cavern floor. All of her Night Make creations were dissolving as well. I turned my gaze to the left, where I saw that Valerie was under the same effect.

As the two of them broke into tiny flecks of energy, those same little motes flowed like a river stream in the air— directly towards the center of the massive ritual several hundred meters away, which it seemed had now ceased.

Over a thousand people dressed in robes and masks were kneeling in an enormous circle around something glowing in the center. Shivers raced down my spine at the silence in the cavern. This was wrong.

That was when it happened. The entire mass of cultists who had participated in the ritual, each and every one of them— they all burst into particles of light, all sucked towards the center as though it was a vacuum. A dark pressure seemed to weigh down on the very air in here.

"Erza... Erza! Mirajane!" I screamed. "We need to get out of here!"

But I didn't move, and neither did they. It was like some force had rooted me into the ground. But it wasn't so much that I was physically unable to move. Rather, I just couldn't seem to summon enough willpower to actually go through with it. Not even a single leg. I could only assume it was the same with the other two.

The silence was deafening now. Whatever had been twisting in the center of the ritual was now completely still. And that was when the first sound began to suffuse the air around us. It was rhythmic, a strange windy noise blowing in and out, in and out, in and out.

No, that was impossible. There was no way.

Breathing.

That was the sound. It was unnaturally loud, like the breath of a mighty dragon, but it was breath nonetheless. The ritual's purpose became clear to me now. Whatever was in the center, they had brought it to life, suffusing it with enough raw energy that it outmatched even the might of your average Wizard Saint.

I felt a distortion coming from the center of the ritual, a bend in spacetime. The newly living entity vanished. But then another tear in spacetime opened up right before us, spitting out what I could only presume was the same being.

The figure was garbed in long, flowing robes of black velvet and purple satin, with a crown of gold resting on its head. Everything about it was skeletal, like the remains of a person dead so long that not even the barest trace of flesh was left. Clutched in its left hand was a silver scepter with a red jewel at the tip. Everything about this unnatural creature was covered in dust, and I had no doubt that it was absolutely _ancient_.

A series of disjointed hisses filled the cavern, and I knew almost instinctively that the thing before me was laughing. This undead abomination took a single step forward and then, to my horror, it began to speak, the sound like the crackling of firewood.

" _Ssssooooo_ ," it drawled, " _everything has come to full completion._ "

"What— what are you...?" said Mira, voicing my thoughts.

" _Aaahhh, the little humans are so grown up_ ," it said, almost wistful. " _It truly has been so long since I have walked the earth. Oh, but it would be remiss of me not to introduce myself._ "

There was utter quiet for a few short moments.

" _I am Ish-bosheth, king of Ka Na'an. If the language has not changed too much over the last thousand years, I am something which is called a 'lich.'"_

"Lich...?" I echoed, unable to stop myself. The ultimate form of undead from RPGs— something like that actually existed in Earthland?

" _You poor souls, you must be so... perturbed. And you haven't even realized yet that you have been utterly defeated_."

"Are you so sure?" I said, my rashness coming to show itself when talking to an enemy that clearly had us backed against a wall.

" _Ever since I felt you in my domain, you became my beautiful pawns,_ " said the lich. " _A Black Field has been erected for a period of four leagues about this place. Through it, your minds were laid bare before me. A few suggestions to the brain was all it took: to seek me out before help would arrive, to bring along your youngest, to find no suspicion in the disappearance of my adherents. Even the very battle you just fought, the use of all your most draining spells from the beginning. Did you truly believe that these were your own choices?_ "

That... that was insane! Did he mean to say that for the past few days, we'd been mind controlled? I was an excellent sensor with over a year of practice fighting against fear compulsions and the like from magical monsters. I should have felt the presence of a force trying to meddle with my mind!

" _Of course, these influences no longer afflict you,_ " it said. " _Awareness has always been the downfall of Mind Magic. It matters not, though. As I said, you are defeated utterly. I will take for myself the three of you now, before returning to the world."_

Exactly thirteen seconds later, my consciousness left this world and moved on to another. I believe it's a phenomenon most people refer to as 'death.'

 **(A/N): And on that happy note, I would like to assure all of you that there is plenty more planned for this story. It's not over next chapter. I promise.**


	11. Chapter 11

_"As I said, you are defeated utterly. I will take for myself the three of you now, before returning to the world."_

Chapter Eleven: A Brief Bungle in the Beyond

11:43 and twenty six seconds.

Something of a black miasma began to seep out of the lich king's body, tainting the air. Twisting in a chaotic dance, the shadows coalesced into a more solid form: a large, three pronged spear. There was complete silence. I still found myself paralyzed in place.

11:43 and twenty nine seconds.

With a speed that just escaped the eye, it sliced through the air and impaled Mirajane straight through the heart. Her jaw opened wide, but no sound came out. I saw the fight leave her eyes as blood began to stain her scales and her expression slowly began to fade towards blankness. More than that, I felt her magic flicker like a candle caught in a breeze. A cold blanket of dread fell over me.

 _Move._

11:43 and thirty two seconds.

Another lance had formed above the lich's head, like a giant scorpion tail. I knew its target just a moment before it struck, my eyes wide. A roaring pain in my chest cut through the dread like a fiery chainsaw. My muscles seized up, a breath shuddering out of me. A black, twisted mass jutted out of of my torso.

11:43 and thirty four seconds.

My own magic started to ooze out of me, and there wasn't enough left in me to fight against it. My magic had been drained, and now the last bits of it left were flowing out like lifeblood. I could feel my heartbeat resonate like a gong throughout my body, pumping out a rhythm, slower and slower. _BA-DUMP... BA-DUMP..._

11:43 and thirty seven seconds.

The rate at which my blood and magic was leaving me was exponential, almost like it was being sucked out by a vacuum and the power dial kept turning up. My body was already limp, my vision already starting to fade. I could sense a tiny spark of life in me, sense it snuffed out.

11:43 and thirty nine seconds.

I became detached in a manner so absolute that Severance Magic could not even hope to compare to it. It was then that I realized I had died.

/

A strong presence.

But if I was dead, then what was this? The afterlife? Limbo? What was the meaning of this all-encompassing presence? Questions, questions, questions, questions. Answers: zero.

The %|?\€*| is $:!/? .

It was not a voice, no, not something nearly as comprehensible as actual speech. It was more like wordless thoughts, vague impressions of this or that. I could only do my best to translate it to myself in words. I felt that the first unknown, %|?\€*|, was referring to me. It was not by name, clearly, but rather it seemed to describe what I was in a manner superior to spoken words. Beyond that, I could not say. The last word escaped my comprehension entirely.

But the %|?\€*| cannot— such defies the ~#^*¥€}.

This one was just as difficult to interpret. Once again, the first word was the one referring to me, yet somehow beyond my conceptual understanding. The second unknown gave me a feeling of importance, but it was all so very vague.

But _a_ %|?\€*| can— such is as we/you/they all know.

I'll be honest— though I could translate much of that into proper words, I was left more confused than enlightened. Don't even get me started on the pronoun. It was plural, but that was about as far as I got with it. From what I could gather out of all of this, it seemed like some extremely powerful entity was arguing with itself.

This must not be— such is also as we/you/they all know.

Was it just me, or were these vague, non-speech communications becoming more and more legible?

Stir his *#|!£=! into completion, suggested the being, presumably to itself.

That is $%/&)- and forbidden! Some definite tones of disgust were there.

Have we/you/they any option more preferable or $%/-?

There was a general unease I could feel now, permeating the air. Or rather, permeating the presence, as I was fairly certain there was nothing else here in this peculiar space, air included.

There is nothing more $%/- for us/you/them to do.

It will never happen again.

Finality.

So be it.

And then, the presence touched me. I felt the gentle caress of a watery aura brush against my mind, and I sank peacefully into its embrace. I can describe it no better than as perfect relaxation of the soul.

But then it began to move and flow, and I was carried along in the stream. I swirled through the essence of things far beyond me, and then I knew that I had returned. But where had I returned to? Where had I returned from? Who was I again?

11:43 and forty seconds.

My eyes opened.

/

For the first time in my entire life, I saw the world around me in all its entirety. I could see the electromagnetic waves given off by everything around me, hear the buzzing of trillions of trillions of trillions of electrons beneath my feet, smell the base particles of ethernanos and other energies as they piled together to form magics.

My brain, in the face of so much information, lost a great deal of its ability to reason, but I could still feel emotions. And it was entirely by these that my next actions were guided.

I saw the creature before me as a living thing, not as an abomination. It was a beautiful mixture of particles and life-force and shadows and so many other things. But I also saw that it was preying on everything around it, eating it up to add to its own bulk. I frowned.

What truly was this thing that called itself a lich?

So I gazed further into it, further than I could have ever thought possible, and I stared into its history. Every moment of this being's existence from birth until now was laid before me to probe at my leisure. I did not hesitate to do so.

 _The great king Ish-bosheth of Ka Na'an had fallen to treachery from among his own military commanders. These two commanders had sided with his enemy, Vadid, the king of a neighboring nation, who was currently questing to usurp him and and conquer Ka Na'an. The two had slipped into his room when he had been slipping, and slit his throat with a small dagger._

 _But Ish-bosheth had known that Vadid was growing more powerful by the day, and in his cunning he had prepared for his own downfall. Deep below his royal palace, in a hidden chamber, there lay a host. It was a structure of bone and silver, welded together and reinforced by the blackest arts of which Ish-bosheth could unearth their secrets._

 _And so it was that Ish-bosheth's soul moved on from his body, but to the next world it did not depart. His spirit was ensnared by dark magic and pulled into his monstrous new body. His well of magic was deeper now in this new body, far greater, but his soul became cracked. No scraps of humanity left in Ish-bosheth survived his resurrection._

 _For a decade he slept, as his broken soul asserted control over its host. When he finally rose up from beneath the earth, it was to see that Ka Na'an had been united with its neighbor under the rule of king Vadid._

 _Enraged, the lich king rampaged through his own lands, leaving a path of death and fire in his wake. With every murder, he grew stronger, ripping apart the very souls of his victims to take from them their magic._

 _After six years, Vadid came to confront the mad king and end his abject reign. Vadid had been blessed by the goddess Akelta, and wielding her power he met his foe in combat. In the end, neither could lay to waste the other, but Ish-bosheth was sealed into a divine lacrima, never to awaken again._

 _The lacrima was buried beneath the mountains where barbarian tribes lived, deeper than any would dig. But these tribes had their own magic arts, and their ethernanos seeped into the earth over a period of many years, bringing to consciousness the ancient king._

 _Still trapped within his crystal cage, the king was left to plot and scheme, slowly eroding the rock around him with his own magic. One by one, he would snatch away a stray man, woman, or child, laying the seeds of his magic in their brain to imprint his will upon them._

 _Their number grew slowly, but nevertheless they grew and grew until there were thousands of them and their combined energy could begin to release him from his stasis. Now more recovered than ever, he erected a spell about the land that surrounded him, claiming it as his territory. While within the land, any creature was his property, and he could do as he pleased with them._

 _Finally, after another thirty years, the final component had been found: powerful wizards with positively charged magic, enough to finally break him free. So, through the power granted to him by his field of territory, he twisted the thoughts of the three wizards to suit his agenda. They fought against the three strongest of his own, leading to clash of positive and negative energies which set him loose at long last, and left the three wizards drained and defeated._

 _He reached for their spirits to crack them and drain their magic, but he did not know that their youngest would not fall to his spells, for he was—_

11:43 and forty one seconds.

Whatever strange influence had come over me was gone now, leaving me with only my five senses. But wisps of it still remained, filling up my ethernanos container beyond its maximum limit. The floodgates were opened, and magic effused from me like light from a star.

I shattered the dark spines that had pierced me and Mira, and the one that would have done the same to Erza in just a moment. Waves of energy poured off of me rapidly, kicking up a storm of dust. My eyes fell upon the lich king, and I felt rage.

"You. Have made. A great. Mistake." I said, rising shakily to my feet.

I instinctively unleashed a bout of Pressure Magic, beating down on the area around me in my anger, compressing the air. I had to carefully lessen it in the areas where Erza and Mira were. That helped to stifle my rage just a bit, but I still had no desire to do anything before I annihilated this undead monstrosity that had dared to attack the three of us after using our brains as a playground.

The lich hissed and drew back, its disjointed bones clanking. Without speaking, it gestured about and summoned a three-layered magic circle, out of which a beam of sickly purple light came to strike at me.

I raised a huge metal orb using Steel-Make Magic to block the attack's path. As adrenaline rushed through my body and empowered my anger, I coated myself in a Storm Drive. Wind, Lightning, and Water Magic danced around my form and I accelerated towards the lich.

"Wood-Make: Tendrils of the Binding Earth," I spoke in a low voice.

The tree roots rose from the ground and a writhing mass of wood descended upon my enemy. The undead king seemed to defend against them well enough for about three seconds, before I activated the cleverly placed Alkashi Runes etched into the wood.

My brain as of now would not allow me to concentrate enough to form an actual runic array, so the disjointed segments (comprised mostly of Fire and Lightning runes) exploded fantastically— Runic Formation 1.

Unfortunately, that had only been enough to reduce the lich's robes to ashes. It weathered the onslaught, baring all of its twisted bone and metal. The crown also remained atop its head, as though fused to its skull.

"Steel Make: Dragon Swarm!" I called, and let the magic do its work.

I'd never actually cast this exact spell before, but I knew how to use _Steel Make: Dragon_ and _Steel Make: Bee Swarm_ , so it wasn't too difficult to put it together, especially with the sheer quantity of magical energy gushing out of me— it just never seemed to stop.

With the twenty or so full-sized, western style dragons assaulting him, Ish-bosheth was quite thoroughly occupied. But why let up now? No, this bastard wasn't catching a moment's rest on my watch.

"Breather of life, Reaper of life, he who shineth at morning's come, burn forth from the heavens in eternal glory. Oh, _Horologia Solaria_ , I am the keeper of flames. Phoenix of heaven, Salamander of earth, Forge of man! Divine conflagration! Ashes of the four winds! Blaze evermore unto the Twilight. Forever shall the fire churn. Crash forth, _Magnum Solaris_!"

A spell like that could dish out some heavy damage when fueled enough. As it was, the firestorm that erupted out from in front of me was utterly massive, greater than anything I had ever managed from the spell before.

The golden conflagration blazed through the air and crashed into the lich, who had successfully destroyed exactly four of the steel dragons. When the explosion of fire that ensued finally abated, Ish-bosheth was left crawling on the floor inside of a large crater that still glowed with heat. A heap of molten steel only vaguely resembling draconic anatomy had engulfed him.

He was as good as dead now. I just had to deliver the finishing move.

"Holy light, holy might, royal clouds on purest wings." I began, pouring as much magic as I could muster into the spell (which was a decidedly large amount). "With such splendor, show me thine ire! Oh shining gates of blazing gold, I am the the slayer of nights. Rise up in defiance, Banisher of Shadows. Seek before me thine enemy eternal and strike him down in fury! _Ablution!_ "

There was a brief moment of silence, in which it could almost appear that my spell had failed. But I knew better.

The radiance that shook the air overrode my Illumination spell entirely. It was like emptying a lake into a swimming pool. I had to shut my eyes tightly, and even then the light was seared into my retinas. Perhaps it would be best to find a less blinding method of negating Black Magic?

Regardless, when the light faded and my eyes were finally able to see again, Ish-bosheth's body was nothing more than an empty shell. The magic keeping his soul anchored to it had been dispelled completely, each and every layer.

Inhaling a deep breath, the lightning around me crackled just a bit louder. Then I let it out and the Storm Drive dissipated. My skin felt numb, and my mind was exhausted, but nonetheless I did not feel magically depleted anymore, even after that last spell.

I realized then, looking down at my chest, that there wasn't a giant, gaping hole in me. My coat was ruined, but my there was a distinct lack of bloody impalement wounds on my bare skin. But I hadn't even cast any sort of healing spell...?

A few moments of pondering later, I remembered that my two comrades were still here, and that they might not have been as miracle-prone as I apparently was. Kicking up a gust behind me with Wind Magic, I bolted over first to Mira, as she had been the one with the gravest injury.

As I had feared, it seemed that her chest did not carry my luck, and it was still bleeding out. Rushing through an overcharged _Vitae Adflo_ , I watched as her flesh knitted itself back together and blood came pouring back into her body, purged of infection.

Healing the body wasn't any problem at all for a spell like that. Even if she'd been reduced to shredded meat, it would have fixed her up. But if she had already died, then all I was doing was mending a corpse. Or worse, if he'd already gotten to tearing her soul apart...

But that fear was allayed as she gasped out a breath and began to slowly inhale and exhale, though she did not seem fully conscious. Hopefully, a bit of rest would fix that.

Next was Erza, who was still conscious but barely coherent. Her hasty self-bandaging had helped a great deal, but she was still heavily injured. I went through with the same procedure as I had with Mira, and in a dozen seconds she was standing upright again, running over to pick up the fallen Take Over mage. I cracked a smile as she was unceremoniously thrown over Erza's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As I had been.

And that was when I noticed them. I'm unsure exactly how they avoided my attention until then, but my stomach dropped at the sight of them. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, not now, not after I'd finally beaten Ish-bosheth once and for all!

The thousand or two cult members were back now, rising to their feet and rubbing their heads. My reserve of magic energy was rather full right now, but that strange, overflowing power that seemed to have no limit was gone from me. With my head screwed on straight now, I might last a fight against those two creepy cult leaders, but not against a thousand enemies, even with Erza.

"What is this—?"

"—We're alive?"

"Is he really—?"

"But then—"

As per the course of human nature, chatter broke out among the ranks, indecipherable from the sheer quantity of people. Maybe, if I happened to be lucky enough, they wouldn't even notice me, and I could just walk away without—

"It's him! _He's_ the guy who killed the lich!" cried a particularly loud cultist, pointing dramatically at me. _Fuck_.

And then, much to my confusion, a cheer rose up from the crowd. Shouldn't they be kind of pissed that I'd just killed off their object of worship? Was this some kind of elaborate trap? Maybe all of these people were just insane?

"He saved us!"

"He set us free!"

"UUUURRRRAAAAHHHH!"

Well, they certainly seemed passionate in their vehement praise of me... Wait a minute, hadn't they also been—? I looked back at what I could remember from my brief and inexplicable trip down the lich's history. Hadn't he essentially just possessed all of his followers into following him? So now that he was gone...

"...I think I understand what's going on," I whispered in Erza's ear. "Let me handle this, and then we can get out of here." She nodded stiffly, then stood at my side, awkwardly rigid.

" **Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!** " I called, amplifying myself with Voice Enchant. I'd always wanted to say that. Within a few seconds, the chattering ceased, all eyes on me.

" **I have come to understand that all of you have been held here, captive in your own minds, by a despicable creature that gave up its humanity long ago,** " I said, pretending not to notice the thousand gazes on me. " **On this day, you have been set free from these dark shackles! On this day, we shall all return to the surface, once again ourselves!**

" **But, good people of the lands, we must first leave this wretched place! Will the ones known as Valerie and 'High Priestess' please come forth.** "

Murmurs echoed through the cavern as two familiar faces stepped up from the crowd, with strong emotion painting their visages. I couldn't figure exactly what these emotions were, but the expressions were decidedly _expressive_ expressions.

" **The two of you have risen in the ranks of this foul order to the very peak, as its leaders. Now that it is no more, these people around you shall be your responsibility to bear. Care for them, return them to their homes, do what you will, but your mission shall forever be incomplete if they are not content.** "

I then aimed a carefully constructed tube of Severance Magic at the top of the cavern, punching a hole through to the surface without bringing the entire ceiling down over our collective heads. A few small rays of sunlight shined down onto the stone floor.

"Wood Make: Spiral Staircase," I muttered, unaided by the Voice Enchant. A great wooden pillar rose from the ground and up through the hole like a magic beanstalk, covered in steps.

" **Now, my good people, ascend!** " I finished, gesturing dramatically to the stairway.

As the people began to listen and head up to the surface, I let myself breathe out a long sigh of relief. Was I shaking? Maybe just a bit...

"What was that?" asked Erza. "Why are these people suddenly friendly?"

"I don't think they were here any more willingly than we were," I explained. "In fact, I believe they were all at least partially, if not fully possessed by that lich."

"Possessed?" said Erza, alarmed, before inhaling deeply and letting out her breath. "Never mind, I will simply trust that you have your way of knowing something like that."

"Yeah, I don't really understand what happened there myself," I said, scratching my head. "I mean, I'm sure I was dead— I _felt_ my heart stop beating, but after that is kind of hazy and confusing, and I just sort of _knew_ , I suppose."

"Regardless, it would seem you've left a great impression on these people," said Erza. "It is doubtful they will ever forget you after that speech."

"Yeah, I did kind of go heavy on the drama there," I admitted sheepishly. "It was mainly because I was just stalling to figure out what to say next. Public speaking is scary! I think I'm still shaking a bit! I just didn't want everyone to panic because of their confusion. A thousand disoriented, very emotional people is a dangerous thing."

"Indeed, I think it was good of you to give them direction," said Erza. "For now, we should follow them back to the surface. And there is also the matter of the responsibility you have placed upon two particular victims of the lich."

"Shit, you're right!" I exclaimed. "I was just trying to stall for time to come up with a way to end it off, but I totally just shoved everyone's wellbeing onto their chests!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can find a way for this to work out," said Erza, patting me mechanically on the head with uncertainty covering her face.

/

"W-what the hell is this?!"

"An army?!"

"They look so creepy!"

Erza and I led the former cultists in a mass exodus towards Felicity Town. Ezekiel, it seemed, had not simply sat down to await our return. He was in front of a gathering of forty odd soldiers in simple armor. No, soldiers was not accurate, they looked as though none of them had ever seen battle before in their lives. More of a militia, then.

"Wait! We come in peace!" I shouted, momentarily forgetting that I could have simply sent the sound across with Voice Enchant. "We come in peace!"

Eventually, as the armed men came to the realization that, no, we did not wish to invade their town, they welcomed us in. We were loosely escorted on a five hour trek back to Felicity Town after the small hassle of an explanation.

I spoke with Valerie and the high priestess, who reintroduced herself as Cressida. Though I asked forgiveness for heaping them with such a huge responsibility, neither seemed to mind at all, and they actually _told me off_ for daring to apologize to them.

Our relationship shifted from _Danger: Unknown!_ to friendly acquaintances. Well, in Cressida's case, it may have been a bit of hero-worship, if the '-sama' she tacked on to my name was anything to go by. I did tell her that it was unnecessary, but I did not protest any further when she refuted me. To be honest, it was actually quite nice.

Hah! Eight years old, and already with a woman who called me Brian-sama! By eighteen, I'd have a full harem! ...Why did I suddenly feel a coldness creeping up my back? That suspicious look Erza was giving me also raised my hair a bit. Did she have some kind of inbuilt perversion detector or something?

Regardless, we all made it to the town after several hours of sore feet. One would think that anyone who could run across that same distance in ten minutes when boosted by magic would be immune to such things. One would be wrong.

But having finally reached their destination, the merry band of former cultists encountered a small problem. A town the size of Felicity could not accommodate a sudden influx of a few thousand people. Valerie and Cressida then made the executive decision (as de facto leaders of ex-cultists) to actually avoid entering the place at all. We parted ways there, and all of the robed and masked people marched on in search of a place to settle, of only temporarily.

Well, all except for one, that was. A young man removed his mask and ran into Ezekiel's arms, sobbing. The two gave each other a teary embrace, and I realized that the boy must have been Ezekiel's lost son, what's-his-face. Err, Rodney, that was.

So it was only the small group of us three Fairy Tail mages, Ezekiel and his son, and the miniature militia who came into the town. The place seemed a great deal livelier without the oppressive Black Magic staining the people who lived there. Some even gave us friendly greetings!

The palace of a town hall did not seem to have changed much, if the disheveled mess of paperwork and desks was anything to go by. Bureaucrats rushed about, carrying various documents and spilling ink. I would have hated to work in such a place.

We gave our report to the mayor, who oddly made no comment about the white-haired young model still hanging over Erza's shoulder. After a speech that left me doubtful of whether he actually understood what we'd told him (he still seemed certain that it had been a plot to depose the king of Fiore), we were handed a Big Sack O' Gold (TM) and sent on our way.

The train station was as busy as always, full of people rushing from train to train. Nonetheless, there was an odd sort of calm to it, like a giant pile of background noise that actually helped to relax you despite its loud volume. Yes, oddly peaceful.

"Alright, I'm fired up for some SS-class monsters!"

A swath of angry fire cut a path through the crowd as people hurried out of the way of the oncoming blaze.

"You idiot! You can't just go around, throwing spells off like that in public!"

"Oh yeah? Well you can't walk around naked in public either, Ice Prick!"

"Wha— When did that happen?!"

"How the hell should I know? It's your freaky stripping habits!"

"Oi, you wanna start something, Ash Head?"

"Bring it, you frozen dirt stain!"

"Ice Make: Wall!"

"Fire Dragon—"

" _Say_ ," I said comversationally. "The two of you wouldn't happen to be... _fighting_ , would you?"

Natsu and Gray slowly rotated their heads in sync to face me. My eyes were closed and a bright smile played across my face. Nonetheless, I released a slight bit of Pressure Magic into the air and cast an illusion to accentuate the shadows around me.

"It- it's chibi-Erza," said Natsu in a stage whisper.

"I _know_ that," hissed Gray.

I merely continued to smile, raising the pressure just a tad.

"U-um, well we were just, you see..." said Natsu intelligently.

"—coming to help assist us on our SS-class mission?" I asked.

"Yeah, that!" agreed Natsu, grinning.

"Well, it's a good thing you came!" I said cheerfully. "You can keep us company on the train ride back to Magnolia. You know, since the mission is already completed."

Was it wrong of me to let my smile widen at the pure, unadulterated horror on his face?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Second Origin; A Scientific Curiosity

The white-haired Take Over mage had thankfully woken up just a few minutes into the train ride home, just in time to witness Natsu's projectile vomit leave the train via window. Somehow, despite it being the first thing she'd seen upon waking, Mira was not disturbed in the slightest and simply let out a bright smile while greeting her friends. That woman really liked smiling, didn't she?

From then, Mira became included in our retelling of the mission to the rest of the present guild members on the train. The entire backup team that Makarov had sent consisted of five people: Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, and Wendy, along with their various feline-avian accompaniment.

And of course, with Gajeel, there came Pantherlily.

We had a very strange relationship, he and I. It was a bit similar to with Gajeel and Levy, only without the awkward romance. He felt guilty about the sword-to-the-chest incident, and I felt intimidated by his battle form. You laugh now, but _you_ didn't go through a traumatic experience at the physical age of eight, now did you?

Thankfully, his battle form was reserved for... well, battle. So long as he was tiny and cute, I had no problem holding a pleasant conversation with him. Of course, trying hold a pleasant conversation with Lily was almost as difficult as with Gajeel, so the point was mostly moot.

Our ride back was hardly quiet, though, since there was also Wendy, Juvia, and Gray, not to mention that Mira was a total chatterbox. The time was spent telling stories of their hijinks, though a few of them I was already familiar with. But for those that I wasn't, they were actually quite interesting.

"—but then Natsu realized that it was actually just a regular chicken that he'd been chasing the entire time!" said Happy, holding back a deluge of mad giggles.

"Urushapglugeugh," argued Natsu. Well, it was probably an argument. It could have been a declaration of love, for all I could decipher it.

And so the long ride home went on and on, until we all eventually fell into a comfortable silence. Natsu had already been knocked unconscious, courtesy of Erza, so it was actually rather peaceful. I spent the rest of the time contemplating the events of the SS-class mission. _Ipso facto_ , the thoughts were mostly of the unpleasant variety.

Somehow, with out my ever figuring it out, Ish-bosheth had gained control of my mind. My thoughts hadn't been my own. Not only that, but he'd done the same to a massive number of people through some form of ancient Black Magic. Simply put, I needed a better contingency plan for mind control than 'well, maybe I can sense when it happens.'

So the first step there was obvious. First, I'd take a look at the Arcane Compendium to see if there was anything about mind control and possession that I hadn't memorized. Chances were that it existed somewhere in that massive book. If what I found was not satisfactory, there was an entire library at the guild— and more libraries throughout the world.

Perhaps it was social anxiety speaking, but for some reason, I felt a bit uncomfortable with just requipping the Compendium into my lap in front of all the others. It wasn't as though I was thinking 'maybe they won't like me anymore,' but something instinctual kept me from doing it, a sense of 'better just leave that as a secret.'

So, with nothing further to accomplish on that end until we reached Magnolia, that left me to ponder the most curious thing about the trip: the fact that I had not died. As a general rule, getting stabbed in the chest by an ancient wizard king with a magic spear tends to lead to a very truncated life expectancy. And I _had_ died, I was sure of it. But I wasn't dead.

It all came down to that weird, slightly psychedelic encounter with the unknown entity. I wasn't really a strong believer in God, but if He really did exist, I would imagine Him as a similar being. The sheer all-encompassing presence of it had been too large for me to properly comprehend— a bit like staring out into the ocean, except that you're already five hundred feet underwater.

It had argued against itself, referring to itself in the plural, talking about things that I didn't understand. When it had finished, I had been so _aware_ of everything around me, and so _powerful_ as well. I had briefly seen the most basic essence of all magic. I had seen more than simply ethernanos particles, but a whole host of other factors too.

Now I was curious. My interest had been piqued. I asked myself a question that I'd been asking for a long time: what is magic? The Compendium had always been very vague about that, discussing spiritual energies and willpower and such, but it had never actually defined those terms as measurable factors.

Ah, but now there was an entire world out there. I didn't just have a single book for information anymore— there was bound to be somebody out there who had figured it out. Or, at the very least, I would find at least some information about the topic.

But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. I would only make myself anxious in having to wait for the train to finally arrive. So instead, I considered what I might do when I returned to the guild. You know, aside from the research.

I still technically had B-rank restrictions, so missions would hardly be an exciting affair. Maybe I could go on a trip, get see the world a bit more? Yes, that actually sounded quite appealing.

 _"Attention passengers, we have arrived at Magnolia Station. Attention passengers, we have arrived at Magnolia Station."_

/

As a matter of course, there were two things which needed to be done upon exiting the train. The first was to acquire new clothes, as my current attire still hade a rather large hole torn through the torso. It would probably be best to have more than a single outfit in my woefully tiny wardrobe as well, regardless.

The second was to make a detailed report to Makarov about the mission. Both Mira and Erza had offered to do it by themselves, but I wanted to cover a few things with the master. As a Wizard Saint, he was likely to know a thing or two about magic, and I didn't doubt the possibility that he might have an idea as to what had happened to me during my sudden power-up.

But first: clothes. Erza had no need to purchase new attire with the extensive amount in her requip space, and although Mira had no pocket dimension, she was hardly a slouch in the clothes department either.

As such, I was alone in the clothing store when I went to purchase my my new outfit. Apparently, singlehandedly obliterating an ancient lich king meant that I was respondsible enough to shop on my own. Go figure.

My new attire was not terribly different. I acquired a similarly long overcoat, although it was a more neutral gray instead of the previous stay-away-from-me-I'm-antisocal black. I even felt a bit lighter of spirit in it, although the badass factor was unfortunately reduced. Thankfully, the odd looks at the giant hole in my shirt shockingly stopped when my shirt didn't have a giant hole in it.

It was as I left the store, ready to take a leisurely stroll back to the happy insanity of my guild, that I stumbled quite accidentally upon a very exciting object of sale. At first I had merely glanced at it in mild surprise, before dismissing it. But after a few moments, I came to realize just how truly powerful it could be in my hands. Using this, I would be able to craft countless spells of unfathomable power and at an incredible rate as well. With this in my possession, I would become unstoppable!

Yes, I had found... graph paper.

The pale sheets of thin paper with a grid of black lines printed over them were stacked en masse by the window of a calligraphy shop called _Lyson's Pencraft_. As odd as it might seem for such an innocuous bit of merchandise to hold such vast potential, I assure you it was quite true.

To clarify, I realized that the use of graph paper could potentially assist me in the development of Alkashi Runic Arrays, much the same way a calculator might assist one in the art of mathematics. As I may have mentioned earlier, Alkashi Runes were certainly quite explosive, and crafting arrays out of them had always been an extremely delicate procedure, often resulting in failure (and therefore intense conflagration).

During the nine months in which I had known the magic, I had created exactly six different arrays that did not explode uselessly. And five of those were fairly basic. The process usually went along the lines of this:

I would create a blank tablet using Wood Make Magic. I would then inscribe the experimental prototype of my rune formation. The _Ankhat_ rune (or any other, for that matter) would be three centimeters off center. The set would explode upon activation. Rinse. Repeat. Eventually, I would create a reasonably functional copy, which I would then study in detail so that it might be duplicated directly from the Wood Make spell.

The method was crude, inefficient, and more likely to produce an ultimate failure than a usable result. But back in the forest of monsters, it had been my only method of using the magic at all. I'd long since given up on any more efficient ways to go about it. Now that I was in civilization, however...

Without any further thought, I entered _Lyson's Pencraft_ through the glass door at the front. Forty minutes later, I left carrying five pounds worth of graphing paper, several different colors of pens, and a cluster of forty six pencils. I would have felt that it was oddly similar to shopping for school supplies were it not for the raw excitement bubbling up inside me.

I almost considered skipping the report to Makarov to begin some magical experimentation. Almost. But, giving myself a mental head-shake, I set my focus on returning to Fairy Tail for the report. It wouldn't do to be unprofessional, now would it?

The guild hall was only a short flight away, though my preferred method of travel attracted lots of index fingers and wide eyes amidst mutterings of 'those crazy guild wizards.' Nonetheless, I arrived at the guild in record time.

From there, it was a matter of stealthily making my way over to the bar, where Mira and Erza could both be found, avoiding various flying paraphernalia all the while. Their faces adopted rather curious expressions at the sight of my newly acquired office supplies, which I was still carrying on hand. Oddly enough, neither of them posed any query to my purchases beyond some raised eyebrows.

Perhaps it would have been prudent of me to send the lot of it into my requip space, but I had been rather impatient at the time, and requipping took several minutes without the ungodly level of skill possessed by Erza Scarlet.

Thus, I entered Makarov's office behind the S-class duo with a large stack of graphing paper in one hand. The master mistook the pile as new paperwork (the result of which I will not disclose out of a desire to maintain his dignity) before coming to his senses and asking for our mission report.

"—see, that's the part where things don't make very much sense," I explained. "I could literally _feel_ the magic draining out of me, and then I passed out. But, as you may have noticed, I didn't die. I, well, I wouldn't say 'woke up,' but I gained some kind of coherence.

"I felt this, sort of, presence, you could say. It was musing to itself or something, and talking about me. But I couldn't understand half of the things it was saying; it was all very strange. When the thing finished talking to itself, it reached some kind of decision, and then I actually woke up for real.

"What's even stranger is that once I did wake up, I was able to look into the lich's past, like actually _seeing_ his entire history in the span of a second. All my wounds were healed, and my magic was practically exploding with energy. Even now, my pool of magical energy is several times larger than it was just a week ago."

There was a small measure of silence afterwards, as everyone turned their thoughts inwards. Though I'd already explained this to Mira and Erza, the two looked to be just as bemused as the master.

"So, I was wondering, actually, if you might have an idea of what happened?" I said, adding a questioning lilt at the end.

"Hmmm," said Makarov, running a hand down his beard sagely. "Events such as these are highly unusual, you must understand."

"Then, that means—" I started, more than a bit disappointed.

"Unusual, but not unprecedented," he cut me off, growing a small grin. "I could think of a few explanations that could fit your description of events, though some are perhaps... of questionable probability."

"So, then which do you think is the most likely?" I asked.

"...There is a phenomenon that has recently been discovered," said Makarov after a short pause. "Or, rather, I should say 'rediscovered.' As you might imagine, a rare occurrence in which a mage suddenly becomes much more powerful than they would ever have imagined is a subject which attracts the intrigue of quite a few researchers."

"I suppose that makes sense," I agreed.

"Those researches now believe that the phenomenon is due to something called 'Second Origin,'" he said.

"Second Origin?" echoed Erza.

But I was already aware of the existence of a 'Second Origin.' Not only had it featured as a prominent power boost in the original franchise, but the Compendium had mentioned something similar as well, a 'secondary source of mostly dormant magical energies within the body.'

"Yes," said Makarov. "As I'm sure you all know, every mage contains a container in their body that stores and produces magical energy from ethernanos particles. However, stumbling across an ancient tome and a smattering of experimentation has revealed that there is actually a second container as well, though it is mostly inactive."

"Then you mean to say," said Mira, "that Brian has opened up this 'second container' of magical energy?"

"I mean to say that it is the most likely possibility I can think of," he corrected. "Each case of a mage opening their Second Origin has been unique to the individual. The only constants are that it happens when the mage is thrown into a desperate situation with no hope of survival, and that there is usually an internal battle of wills. From what I can see, Brian here meets both of those conditions."

"So, that strange entity was... what, my collective subconscious and unconscious mind of something?" I asked, scratching my head. "That sounds a bit... convoluted."

"I could be entirely wrong, of course," said the master, letting out a hearty laugh. "It's possible you're actually part dragon, and you simply awakened your latent heritage as a powerful creature that can— Ow!"

"I think our report is finished," I said with a very controlled tone, having smacked the master across his balding head. "Have a wonderful rest of your day, Master."

/

 _Possession is defined as the act of spiritual intrusion (not be confused with mental intrusion (see pg. 437)). Therefore, anything from a full body Take Over to a Soul Call can be considered a branch of this parent magic._

 _Possession is usually recognized as belonging to on of the two following major categories:_

 _Permanent Possession— an act of possession that cannot be dispelled_

 _Temporary Possession— an act of possession that is not Permanent_

 _Furthermore, each of the two major categories can be split into these two minor categories:_

 _Absolute Possession— the complete dominance of one soul over another_

 _Partial Possession— an incomplete dominance over the soul, or any dominance over a part of a soul_

 _As such, all forms of possession can be effectively shown in the Astahargen Chart._

 _:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-Temporary-: :-Permanent-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-_

 _Partial -:-:-:-:-| PaT-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-PaPe |-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-_

 _Absolute-:-:-:-| AT-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-APe |-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-_

 _It should be noted that Absolute Possession will always be detected by its victim from the moment it begins, whereas it is possible for Partial Possession to be cast on a subject without their knowing._

 _Like all branches of Soul Magic (see pg. 251), any forms of possession can be linked back to the Black Arts (see pg. 67) as direct descendant magics. As such, any form of of White Magic or other magics with Black Counter properties will attempt to negate possession._

 _However, this form of negation is not all-powerful. No known Black Counter spell is able to neutralize deeply rooted Absolute Possession. However, depending upon the power and complexity of the spell, it may be able to counter any form of Partial Possession._

 _APe-type possession is particularly vicious in that its damage will persist in the victim even after the caster's death. The only method of negating APe Possession is in specific spells or rituals designed for a specific APe Possession Magic. There is no fix-all solution to it._

 _On the other hand, any other form of possession will be terminated immediately upon the destruction of the caster, leaving its victims mostly unharmed._

 _REFERENCES:_

 _Ankhseram Theory (pg. 347)_

 _Anti-Spiritus (pg. 1,762)_

 _Astrology Divination (pg. 1,263)_

 _Black Aura (pg. 437)_

 _Black Cross Magic (pg. 463)_

 _Black Field (pg. 489)_

 _Black Reaper Magic (pg. 782)_

 _Blood Forge Magic (pg. 1,893)_

 _..._

I made a small note of 'pg. 489' on a scrap of paper in blue ink before shutting the Arcane Compendium with a satisfying thud. So it seemed that Ish-bosheth's 'mind control' had actually been Soul Magic. I supposed it wasn't entirely surprising, given that he'd been an undead wizard-king from ancient times.

From that discovery, I knew that no amount of mental sensory abilities on my end would ever protect me from possession. For that, I'd have to see about guarding my very soul. On the off chance that I ever ran across an ancient lich again, I'd much prefer to have the foundation of my metaphysical existence protected against tampering. You know, as a basic safety precaution.

Now I had so much to do. Alkashi Rune experimentation, finding the true nature of magic, traveling the world— and now I had to learn Soul Magic as well! How would I ever go about it all?

"First things first," I muttered. "Safety is key, but what are the chances I'll ever run into a soul mage any time soon? Better to just leave that for later..."

Then, a thought occurred to me, one about my plans for the near future and what that could entail.

"On second thought, maybe protecting my soul is more important."

/

 **(A/N): Ooohhh, now that's ominous. What could Brian's plans be, that they would require him to protect his very soul? I suppose you'll eventually find out, of course :p**

 **On another note, there's an experiment that I'd like to try out. If any of you feel like helping me out with it, leave a review that answers this question: based on what you've read in this fic, how old do you think I am?**

 **And no, I don't think that answering this question online makes you creepy. I just want to see the kind of impression I give my readers, since that is the point of reviews, after all.**

 **Ja ne.**


	13. Interlude 1

Interlude: Revenge of the Besmirched

It was an unassuming Tuesday, if not quiet, at the guild hall on October the fourteenth. A young man (though not nearly so young as I) strode in through the door with an air of confidence about him, perhaps even of arrogance.

His form was clothed simply, baggy sweat pants covering his legs and a long sleeved shirt for his torso, all of it in black. Over that, there was a long, open coat that stretched from his collar down to his ankles. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, and his gait seemed neither imperious nor easygoing, but somewhere in between.

An amused curl of the lips crossed his face while his eyes lit up with a barely hidden excitement. At exactly the same time, a small expression of anticipation made itself known on my own face, and, had anyone observed the two of us together, they would surely have remarked upon the eerie likeness of the two expressions.

Naturally, the sudden emergence of a stranger with such an unusually confidant presence attracted the stares of more than a few casually sitting wizards, some of whom may have felt the slightest bit unsettled by him. And so the volume of the unceasing chatter that always suffused the guild's request center (more of a bar, really) near instantly dropped to below a seventh of its previous raucousness when his appearance was made.

In the much quieter room, the small clack of his boots against the wooden floor seemed to pierce the air just a _tad_ sharper than they ought have. He eyed the room searchingly.

"Erza Scarlet," he said. It was spoken loudly, sharply, but not shouted. The eyes of the Fairy Tail wizards collectively shifted towards the red haired Requip mage. The previous tension thickened in the air.

Erza stiffened and then rose to her feet challengingly.

"Erza... so it is you, yes?" said the man.

"I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail," she affirmed, eyes narrowing.

"I see," he said mysteriously. "Then the time is now upon us."

"What is it that you speak of?"

"I carry a message for you, on behalf of His Majesty, King Charles of Greysborough." There was a terse pause. The voice resumed. "Such are his words: 'I fear there is a great danger stalking the streets of this town, an enemy I have long since battled yet never truly brought down. For you see, this enemy's power is great, and its cunning greater. It has hidden itself among you as a wolf amongst sheep. But I have heard tales of a mage that dwells here, a strong, valiant knight who has many times conquered evil. I beg of you now, do what you can to fell this terrible threat!' So end the words of His Majesty."

Utter silence ruled the hall (a rare occurrence, though this was the second time in three months).

Before anyone else formed a reply, waiting just long enough for the silence to truly sink in, I stood up from my chair. It screeched against the wooden floor as I rose, and all attention came upon me. I smiled an evil smile.

"King Charles, did you say?" I asked tauntingly. "The old fool always was too scared to leave his own castle, wasn't he?"

"Who are you that you would speak such slander of His Majesty!" demanded the stranger, scowling.

A dark chuckle left my lips, slowly building up into more of a classic 'insane laughter.' Without warning, I threw my arms about in the air and jumped forward, gesturing wildly.

"I am the greatest divinity to walk this earth for centuries." I answers. "I have hid myself always in the hearts of young maidens, twisting their thoughts to suit my ends."

"No," said the man, growing pallid. "It cannot be! Stay back, demon!"

"I am the Seed, and the Glow, and the Seeping," I hissed. "I am the Sin, and the Weakness, and the Temptation."

"No, after all of our efforts to oppose you—!" bewailed the man, tears coming to his eyes. "Hurry! We must all escape before it shows its true form!"

"My true form?" I echoed, grinning savagely. "Very well, I shall reveal myself to you!"

A puff of white smoke burst forth from around me, concealing myself completely. The light tinkling of bells rang through the air. When the smoke faded, there was no boy left where one had once stood. Instead, there lay a thing of unfathomable essence. None of Fairy Tail could comprehend the truth of this being, but all of them knew most certainly that it belonged nowhere in this world.

 _You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum_

 _Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie_

The barely sung, out-of-key notes seemed to come from some invisible three-year-old girl, though the source was, without a doubt, the being in front of them.

 _You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop_

 _Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye_

An enormous strawberry shortcake stood on the floor, four odd appendages sticking out of it like large white sticks, only that they _moved_ and had _fingers_. A highly disturbing smile filled up a majority of the cake's surface as the entire thing rocked from side to side with jolliness in some sort of... dance? Two wide, innocent eyes could be found above the giant mouth, several dozen sizes too large to be human, and far too circular.

 _And I love you so and I want you to know_

 _That I'll always be right here_

Erza, who had drawn a sword during my monologue, lowered the weapon slowly to the ground, perhaps questioning the necessity of its use. But the stranger turned to her with frightened eyes.

"No! Please!" he begged. "Do not be fooled. This wrathful creature will doom us all. You must fight it, brave knight!"

"Umm..." said Erza, seemingly unable to say anything else.

 _And I love to sing sweet songs to you_

 _Because you are so dear_

The man fell to his knees and implored the red haired mage to do something, _anything_ , to stop the beast. Hesitantly, and blushing at the absurdity of it all, she raised her blade and walked uncertainly toward the... whatever-the-hell-it-was.

Tentatively, she tapped the edge of the sword against the anthropomorphic cake. As soon as the metal made contact, the music (if it could even be referred to as such) cut off, and the pastry fell to the floor, struck, an expression of horror painted across its face. A slow violin ballad filled the air now.

"No, no, I have been struck..." I sobbed, in an unnaturally high voice that sounded as though it belonged to some strange toddler-puppy-rainbow hybrid creature. "I thought— I thought that things could finally change!"

"W-w-w..." Erza seemed beyond words now. Good.

"For the one who had taken hundreds of my kind and devoured them," I said softly, "I had hope that I might show to them that kindness was always the answer, and that they needn't have destroyed us as such. But now, you have failed to see... and so I shall fall as my brethren have fallen before me, to the jaws of the mighty devourer... whose heart... could not... be swayed..."

With a terrible moan, I lay motionless on the floor. Erza was shaking, perhaps questioning the sanity of the universe, or the deepest recesses of her morals. No one could really be sure.

After thirty seconds of this, I let out a burst of magic, and a blinding flash filled the room. When it was gone, there was no cake nor stranger nor Brian to be seen.

On a street, on the opposite side of Magnolia from the city's local guild, two figures appeared seemingly out of thin air, one larger and older than the other. Both collapsed to the ground in fits of hysterical laughter, prompting the nearby citizens to avoid them both at great length.

 _That'll teach you to put a dress on me!_ I thought, though I couldn't get the words out. I was laughing too much.

For many, many years to come, the Tale of the Cakeman would be told and retold through the generations of Fairy Tail.

 **(A/N): This is just a short interlude to let you all know that I'm still alive. The actual Chapter 13 will be posted by the time the weekend is over, if everything goes according to plan. Ideally, I would post a chapter every week, but events have conspired to make it more like every 10 days. So now you get chapter 13 _and_ this in a short time frame. Aren't I so generous? :p**

 **Oh, and if you're wondering how Brian managed to pull that off, you'll find out in the next chapter**. **Until then, I suppose.**


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Mad Science; Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!

My sudden interest in Soul Magic was rather off-putting to many of the members of Fairy Tail. Of course, casually sitting down at a table to read _The Seven Deathly Magicks_ probably didn't help much. As a rule, anything that was a direct descendant of the Black Arts (which Soul Magic was) could be considered high taboo in just about any part of the country.

If I had been in a village somewhere off in the countryside, I would surely have been driven out by a pitchfork-wielding mob for reading such things. But, as this was Fairy Tail, people only became shifty around me. I wondered how they would have reacted to know that their first master had been a Black Mage?

But regardless, I needed to have that knowledge. Protecting my soul was top priority, but reading up on the Black Arts really could only help me with what I was planning to get myself into. And I had exactly four months to learn everything I could about it, so you can be damn sure I didn't waste them.

While searching through the Black Arts and other related things, I finally stumbled across something in the Compendium that could be what I was looking for. At the very least, I felt it was the most promising solution I'd yet found.

 _ **Clone Magic**_

 _This particular form of magic is used as a sort of bodily Duplication Magic (see pg. 1,748), though it is infinitely more complex. Unlike Duplication Magic, which only creates a similar structure to any given entity, Clone Magic creates a true copy._

 _Beyond that, clones are created as true entities, and are not artificial in the same way that constructs of Duplication Magic are. Even if the clone does not receive a constant supply of magic energy, it will not dissipate into base particles._

 _Clone Magic can only be used to create clones of living organisms._

 _However, in the end result, the clone will only be a body, uninhabited by any form of consciousness. The second half of Clone Magic is the transference of the caster's soul from their own body into that of the clone._

 _For ethical quandaries regarding the casting out of one's own soul into a different body, see page 286._

 _Clone Creation_

 _The process of creating a single clone occurs through ritual magic, and will usually take 20-30 days from start to completion. The following will explain a step-by-step procedure for the creation of single clones._

 _Materials: Stasis Containment Lacrima (large enough to fit the size of the clone body), blood of the caster (45 mL), blood of the body you wish to clone (2 L), stone altar (10x10 ft. or larger), sand (2 lbs.), water (20 L), iron (4 g), magic energy conduit (as potent as possible)_

 _NOTE: While it is possible to create clones to inhabit from other bodies, it is recommended that the caster begin only with creating a clone from their own body, so as to minimize discrepancies they must adapt to in the clone._

 _Step 1: Place the lacrima upon the altar, centered._

 _Step 2:_ _Using the blood of the caster, inscribe an appropriate runic array for the purpose of blocking out foreign magics around the edge of the altar (the rune type is irrelevant, so long as it is potent enough to form a complete barrier)._

 _Step 3:_ _Draw a circle around the base of the lacrima using the blood of the body you wish to clone._

 _Step 4: Gather the sand into a pile and place it north of the lacrima._

 _Step 5: Gather the water into a container and place it south of the lacrima._

 _Step 6: Place the iron west of the lacrima._

 _Step 7: Place the magic energy conduit east of the lacrima._

 _Step 8:_ _Using the blood of the body you wish to clone,_ _draw a circle around each of the four cardinally oriented items._

 _Step 9: Using the blood of the body you wish to clone, inscribe a Seal of Identity (see pg. 638) around each of the five circles._

 _Step 10: Feed a source of the caster's magic energy into the conduit. Continue to give energy to the magic energy conduit at daily increments._

 _The ritual will be completed when all of the cardinally oriented materials and blood are gone completely, and the finalized clone is within the lacrima._

 _Inhabiting your Clone_

 _The process for the caster to inhabit a clone is very simple, though a basic self-awareness of their own soul is necessary. By using the basic act, Soul Projection (see pg. 257), the caster can push their own soul into the body of a clone. Once the caster has pushed their soul into the clone, they become what is known as a Director._

 _It is possible for a Director to inhabit both their primary body and a clone body simultaneously, though the duality is often very disorienting and can cause functionality difficulties. The more bodies the Director inhabits simultaneously, the greater the strain._

 _If a clone is destroyed or otherwise dies while a Director is inhabiting it, his soul will be ejected from the clone and pulled into his body through a process called snap-back. If any damage is made directly to the soul of the Director, the safety protocol will initiate a forced snap-back._

 _WARNING: Repeated exposure to snap-back can lead to permanent damage in the soul._

 _Casting Through Clones_

 _A clone does not naturally possess any form of ability to cast magic, but that does not mean it is impossible to do so. Any spell that the Director is capable of casting can be transferred over to any given clone. Through this process, the primary body loses the ability to cast those spells. It is also possible for the caster to transfer over an entire branch of magic, though the same limit will apply._

 _WARNING: If a clone is destroyed, regardless of whether or not the Director is inhabiting it, any magics that it carries will not return via snap-back. Those magics will be permanently lost._

 _For magic transference process, see page 983._

Alright, so the entire thing was a bit sketchy. The ritual sounded creepy as all hell with its talk about altars and blood, not to mention the weirdness of actually cloning myself in the first place! But despite all of that, it seemed to be the safest soul defense I could find. Any threat, and I'd be whisked away into my original body, however far away it was.

I'd just have to make sure that no one found out about what I was doing, or at least, not how I was doing it. That conversation would go over well.

 _'Guess what? I enacted an ancient blood ritual to give myself an extra body!'_

 _'Was you morality eaten by a stray dog?'_

So, in order to maintain secrecy, I'd have to perform the month-long ritual somewhere nobody would stumble into. A hidden, underground chamber would be ideal, but my Earth Magic wasn't nearly strong enough to make something like that. At least, not without spending a few weeks on it. And with only four months until my deadline, that simply wouldn't do.

So instead, I selected a random location in the forest outside Magnolia Town (far enough into the monster-stocked woods that nobody would casually wander in), and then I built a large shelter using Wood Make Magic. And just to be safe, I erected the strongest permanent barrier I could manage with my meager expertise in Barrier Magic. It was mostly for my own peace of mind, though.

Inside the warehouse-like room, I raised up a decently sized altar of stone. After a long day's hard work, I returned to the town and had a good sleep-in the next day (a day which I spent relaxing). But the following day, I set to work again, this time to gather all of the materials.

" _Stasis Containment Lacrima (large enough to fit the size of the clone body), blood of the caster (45 mL), blood of the body you wish to clone (2 L), stone altar (10x10 ft. or larger), sand (2 lbs.), water (20 L), iron (4 g), magic energy conduit (as potent as possible)_ "

I already had the altar, so that one could be marked off the list. I'd need two liters and forty five milliliters of my own blood, which I also already had (though it was going to be an uncomfortable experience to actually draw it).

Sand and water would be no difficulty to gather in the quantities stated, just a matter of taking a trip to the beach. The iron, I would have to buy, but that would be no problem with the reward money from my last job request.

The two difficult materials were the conduit and the lacrima. Finding a conduit for magical energy wasn't terribly difficult— anything magically conductive was decent for it. It was why I carved Alkashi runes into wood, instead of steel. But the Compendium specifically said 'as potent as possible.' And _that_ could be a problem.

A quick question to Levy and a trip to the guild library informed me that the most conductive magic conductor known was something called aeolian shallite. Apparently, it sold at around six hundred million jewel per ounce.

So, balancing price against potency, I eventually settled for a material called Dieffenbach quartz, which was only fifty thousand jewel per ounce. In other words, it was certainly high quality, but I would still be able to purchase enough to use.

Then there was the Stasis Containment Lacrima. According to Mirajane, they weren't too difficult to get at about as large as a coin, but asking for a custom size would make it much, _much_ more expensive.

So, that sixteen and a half million jewel I'd gotten from the SS-class mission? Yeah, that wasn't going to last very long. And just to add on to the difficulty, there was no such things as 'package delivery services.' If you wanted to send someone an object, you's have to pay someone directly to deliver it, or send out a job request for a guild.

So, I would have to travel four hundred miles by train to the town of Era, where the Magic Council was situated, apparently. This, I suppose, explained why it was the only town in the entire country where I could make both purchases in one round trip.

Now the only difficulty was in finding a way to get there without suspicion. As a child, I could hardly tell the guild that I would be leaving for a day or two. No matter where I said I was going, they'd want to send an adult along with me. This meant that I'd not be able to go to Era without providing a reason. 'I want to buy some rare items for an ancient blood ritual' probably wouldn't work.

So as I thought about it, I went through the process of gathering all of the other materials and storing them at the ritual sight. By the end of the day, I had all of my resources except for the two difficult ones (though I still hadn't drawn my own blood yet, either). And I still hadn't a clue as to what kind of excuse would possibly allow for me to be absent for an extended period of time.

Slinking tiredly into the guild hall for some much needed rest, I realized exactly how to go about this. In retrospect, it was so obvious that I should have felt worried about my intelligence for having not thought of it immediately. Such was the consequence of making all of my plans so elaborate.

 _A job request!_

If I was taking an innocuous one, something where other adults would be there, then surely no one would object to my leaving for a day or two? I could probably say something like, 'I will prove my independence!' and they'd eat it all up. Or at least Erza would, and that would prevent anyone else from interfering.

/

 _Guard Mission!_

 _We are carting a load of valuable supplies from Onibus to Era. We are requesting for a mage to guard the supplies while we transport it and prevent bandits and the like from attacking._

 _Reward: 10,000J_

The request was simple enough, and I'd have an excuse to go to Era. Since there were adults transporting the supplies, I'd have enough 'supervision,' and no complications would arise in the guild.

The plan went off without a hitch. I traveled to Onibus Town, and met my clients. After explaining that, yes, I was qualified for the mission (that particular explanation had involved the judicious use of Pressure Magic), I simply sat in a cart full of boxes for its four-day-long journey to Era.

Food and water were provided for me, and I slept in the cart, so nothing was really a problem. I spent most of the time reading my Compendium and fantasizing about all of the Lost Magics it described.

No bandits ever made any move to attack the traveling cart, so the entire affair was rather dull. After four days of travel, we arrived at Era, and I was presented my meager payment. Ah, but I also had all of my jewel from the S-class mission stored away in my requip space.

In the end, I purchased three pounds of Dieffenbach quartz and a Stasis Containment Lacrima large enough to store a body. I was left with only two million jewel at the end of it all. What obscene prices, honestly!

But I had them, which was what mattered. And, with those two dropped off at my impromptu 'secret chamber,' I had only my blood left.

Now, I couldn't just go ahead and draw two and a half liters at once. That would be... very unhealthy. Instead, I let myself lose a pint every two days for a week. The process was indescribably uncomfortable, and I really never wanted any needles to come anywhere near me ever again by the end of it. Stabbing yourself repeatedly for practical purposes is a rather harrowing process, let me assure you.

Nonetheless, having collected all of the necessary resources in just a week and a half, I began the ritual process, which took another day on its own. Drawing spell diagrams and strange runes in blood was... an experience, shall we say.

On September the twelfth, my creation of questionable ethical orientation was finally completed.

Standing before the great crystal, my own body laid prone within, a great triumph arose in me. And then, after this great elation, a quandary struck me. You know what would have been helpful? A way to get the clone out of the lacrima.

/

Transferring one's own consciousness into the equivalent of a mystical stunt double was rather less disorientating than I had imagined. It was as though I was waking up from a dream without ever having fallen asleep, and then it was over. The body was the same, after all.

No, what really made me queasy about staying inside the clone was my inability to cast any form of magic. As a precaution, I hadn't let any magic follow my mind into the new body. After all, I couldn't be certain that I hadn't made a massive mistake in the creation process. If the clone died, I didn't want to permanently lose any magics.

To look at my own unconscious body while knowing that I'd just been walking around inside of it was also a tad nauseating, though I couldn't be sure exactly why. Perhaps, even though I'd long since come to accept the act of chucking fireballs as commonplace for myself, there were some things that still felt surreal to me.

I spent a good hour in my personal 'chamber of secrets,' switching from body to body. The novelty never really wore off. Smiling rather idiotically, I made something of a game out of it, switching from one body to the other and then catching the first as it fell to the ground in a state of unconsciousness.

Eventually, I realized how I would feel if someone came across me, and my cheeks reddened in a way that was almost tangible. I could practically hear Erza's voice.

 _Ancient blood magics are not toys!_

Shaking my head rapidly to disperse the mental image, I settled into a sitting position and returned my thoughts towards pragmatism. The next step would be trying to inhabit both bodies at once. The Compendium had warned that it would be a very disconcerting experience, so I was more than a bit hesitant to test it.

Closing my eyes, I sent my soul out towards the other me, imagining it like a thin strand of... soul-stuff. Gradually, as the the soul-tendril began to root itself into the other brain, I felt a familiar pull, trying to reel in the rest of my soul.

Instead of allowing it to pull me across, I held my ground. Like hell some mystical spirit-force was gonna tell _me_ what to do! The experience was not exactly painful, but like an uncomfortable pressure was weighing down on my head.

And then...

Disorientation didn't even begin to describe it. Why was everything smelling like purple? Did an ant just crawl across my left hand?! No, there was nothing on my left hand at all. How could the ceiling look so much like earth if it was wooden?

Twenty minutes of sensation-hell was more than enough. That was... definitely going to take some getting used to. I thought I might have started to realize whether a sense was coming from one body or the other, but those were probably the most uncomfortable twenty minutes of my life.

I settled into something of a routine afterwards. Everyday, I would vanish off to my hidden location under the guise of 'training' (a guise which I had also been using to cover up my previous extended visits) for an hour.

Afterwards, I would return to Magnolia, having exhausted my brain trying to cope with inhabiting two bodies at once. After a power nap, I would spend time _actually_ training and reading up on the Black Arts. Every Saturday was my day off, and I could just spend it doing things for fun instead of working.

After five weeks of this, I made enough progress with my clone project that I could actually move around in both of them at the same time, independent of each other. Actually, it was just as easy to move them independently as it was to move them synchronously.

 _"The human brain is not built for multitasking. The act of doing so in spite of that causes a massive decrease in efficiency for all of the tasks that doesn't outweigh the efficiency of tackling each task independently."_ That was what my research into the subject had said.

My theory was this: With two clones, there came two brains, even though there was only one mind. So, with two brains, not only was multitasking healthy for me, but it was actually healthier than not doing it (though only for two tasks at the same time).

The problem then became switching back into a one-task mindset afterwards and then back to two-task the next session. Would I have to choose to remain permanently on or off of multitask mode?

Um, no, actually, not at all.

See, although the brain was wired to behave in a certain way, the _mind_ was not nearly so picky. By the time October was coming to an end, my mind had adjusted to using both mono-cognitive and bi-cognitive states interchangeably. Which was awesome.

For my final foray into clone-dom, I transferred over my Illusion Magic to the clone body. Utilizing this, I ended up planning a prank on Erza in retribution for the dress incident. Indeed, it was also a test for my abilities to interact socially in a bi-cognitive state, though this was a secondary goal compared to the amusement I hoped to gain out of it.

Needless to say, it was a moment that all present would likely remember for the rest of their natural lifespans. I acted as though I remembered none of it, though, which was almost as amusing the prank itself.

"Don't act like it never happened! Some official guy from another kingdom came and you turned into a talking cake-demon! And then you guys both disappeared into thin air!"

"I may be eight years old, but I'm not _that_ gullible. Nice try, though."

And then, at the end of all of that, November also came to an end. My remaining two million jewel still hadn't run dry yet, so I hadn't gone on any jobs recently. Unfortunately, with December already upon me, there wasn't time enough left for that.

After all, the plan was about to begin, and I had to be around in order to set it into motion.

/

 **(A/N): whew, the chapter is _finally_ over. This thing has been hanging over me like some kind of evil specter for two weeks! I cannot even tell you how much I had to rewrite it over and over again! Damn writer's block!**

 **Well, ranting aside, now we can finally move onto the interesting bit, and the final conclusion of part I. Hope you enjoy!**


End file.
